Forgive Me
by Emconn
Summary: With Gibbs out of the picture...supposedly...Tony struggles with his new position as team leader. On top of the change there are growing tensions coming from the rest of the team and Director Shepherd. As the stress from work builds up how will Claire and Tony cope? Will these trials bring them closer together or will it tear them apart? [seasons 4-5]
1. Chapter 1

[Shalom: 1]

 **...**

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

Ziva was jamming out to some Israeli rock as she swerved through the streets in her cherry red Cooper. She grinned and tapped a rhythm against the steering wheel, paying no attention to the honking of angry cars around her. Claire rode passenger holding onto the sides of the car in a death grip.

"Ziva why there are only 2 lanes…watch!...why are swerving in the middle…he's pulling out!" Claire fretted wincing every time Ziva nearly sideswiped a car as she casually made her way through traffic. Ziva chuckled at her distress, un-phased by Claire's reactions as it wasn't the first time someone disliked her driving. The woman finally skidded to a stop at a red light, Claire breathing a sigh of relief as the car stopped. Why had she agreed to ride in with Ziva this morning? As she enjoyed a few seconds of peace, a motorbike pulled up next to them, both passengers in black suits and dark helmets. The man revved the bike, looking over at Ziva who was still lost in her tunes. After another revving, Ziva turned and froze as she stared at them. Claire watched the two curiously, watching recognition flitted across Ziva's face. Once she had recognized them the bike raced into traffic, causing a collision just in front of them. Ziva instantly gunned the car and raced after them.

"Ziva do you know them?" Claire asked, flitting into agent mode as Ziva engaged in pursuit. She didn't say anything, just focused in on dodging cars as they reached higher speeds. Just as they passed a small café, an explosion erupted from it, reaching out to hit the car. Both girls tried to shield themselves but the fragments ultimately broke through the passenger door window. Ziva quickly brought her car to a stop up on the curb of the explosion site. She shot out and pulled out her gun, but stopped as the bike whipped around the corner out of site. Letting her instincts take over Ziva slowly spun, taking in all the reactions as she tried to point out a possible culprit. One man caught her eye as he casually made his way past the carnage.

"Federal agent, halt." She called, gun at the ready as she made her way towards him. The man stopped with his back to her.

"Hands up in the air now!" she ordered. the man reached up to take off his sunglasses and spun around, staring at her with a slight grin.

"Alil?" Ziva gasped in shock. The man's smirk widened and he continued his walk, disappearing around the corner. Ziva watched the man walk away as she lowered her gun, still reeling from the realization that she knew him. After a moment of surprise, she regained her senses and remembered there was one other person in the car with her.

"Claire?!" she shouted, dashing towards the car. Seeing as the passenger door was not going to open she rushed around towards her open door. Inside Claire sat unconscious, cuts and forming bruises scattered about her face and hands. One profound cut was running across her temple and upper forehead. Ziva reached forward looking for a pulse as a blood from the gash began covering her partner's face. Her shoulders dropped significantly as she found a strong beat under her fingers. Now she was conflicted. On one hand Claire was in the car looking worse for wear near a bomb site, and on the other hand, there was a man from Mossad that she recognized, walking away from said explosion. Rationalizing with her brain rather than emotions she decided to get to the bottom of the whole Mossad agent thing first. Ziva knew paramedics and police would be arriving on scene shortly and Claire wasn't in any immediate danger at the moment. So, with one last look at her bloodied passenger Ziva dashed off towards the Israeli embassy, knowing that she could get some answers there.

...

McGee sat at Tony's…his desk now, playing some kiddie type game on his computer to kill the boredom.

"Is he here yet?!" Abby chanted, racing towards him with a box of powdered donuts and a Caf-pow in her arms.

"Abby, to you think I'd be playing this game if he was?" McGee droned distractedly. Abby grunted in displeasure and sat on his desk, chowing away at one of the donuts.

"I will call you as soon as he gets here ok? I promise." He told her.

"What if his plane was late? Or worse what if he missed his connecting flight?" she fretted, her voice muffled by all the sugar in her mouth. She glanced over at Claire's empty desk. It was odd that she hadn't shown up yet today since Tony was coming back from his trip, but then again maybe they were having their meeting elsewhere.

"Well then he will be here tomorrow." McGee shrugged in disinterest.

"Not good enough McGee! A team needs a leader, he's our glue, he's our spine! Without him we're like phylum…cnidaria." She continued rambling and eating at the same time. McGee frowned as he thought through what she had just said.

"Jellyfish." He realized, remembering what the phylum cnidaria was.

"Exactly." She told him. McGee pursed his lips and paused the game, turning to face her.

"You saying I'm spineless?" he asked, unamused as to what she was insinuating. Abby paused.

"Of course not Timmy." She dismissed quickly, and kicked up her leg to roughly roll his desk chair away. McGee huffed as he was rolled across the bullpen so Abby could take over his computer.

"I'm gonna check his flight." She informed, already typing away. McGee whined nervously as he watched.

"Abby you're getting powder all over my keyboard." He pointed out, reaching to take her hands off but she swatted him away.

"What's your point?" she huffed, not looking away from the screen.

"My point is Abby, that you are really, really overdoing the sugar thing again." He told her calmly, allowing her to do her thing since he wasn't getting anywhere. She bit her lip.

"I'm eating for two." She told him. At this McGee's eyes widened and he quickly leaned in closer. He reached out to still her arm, shooting her a look of concern. Abby smiled warmly, touched by his concern for her welfare.

"Relax, I'm referring to health food freak over there." She assured, nodding her head to the new Probie, Michelle Lee, who was munching on carrots quietly at McGee's old desk.

"Every time I pass her desk, I have this irresistible urge to shove a cheeseburger down her throat." Abby commented, still typing furiously. McGee grinned to himself, glancing at the woman petite Asian woman out of the corner of his eye.

"I think she's kinda hot." He pointed out before fully looking over.

"Oh you think she's hot?" Abby mused.

"Yea, you know…for a Probie." He hummed easily.

"You two do realize I can hear you right?" Michelle pointed out, not looking away from her computer screen. Abby and McGee paused and smiled sheepishly at one another.

"We do now, very Special Agent Lee." Michelle sent them both a tight smile before returning to her work. Abby's attention was brought back to the task at hand by a buzzer going off on McGee computer.

"His flight landed on time where is he?!" she wailed worriedly. As if answering her question, the elevator doors opened and Tony DiNozzo stepped out in a suit, holding a cup of coffee and a large shopping bag in hand. Abby gasped in delight, dashing towards him.

"Oh yay welcome home! I missed you!" she cheered, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck in a hug.

"I missed you too Abby." He whispered as his air had been abruptly cut off. Everyone watched in amusement as he struggled to breath with an excited Abby Scuito on his neck.

"Oh did you have fun? Did you go to that cool bar in Dusseldorf?" Abby continued, still clinging to a red-faced Tony. Meanwhile McGee and Agent Lee were quickly putting their things back in order and clearing their computers of any unnecessary files as he was distracted.

"You know I tried but the security conference kept us pretty busy." Tony explained, his face turning a deeper shade. Abby continued to cling to him contentedly.

"I'm having trouble breathing Abby." he wheezed out.

"Oh sorry!" she gasped, releasing him. Tony sighed in relief and took a moment to stretch out his neck. Once he was back to normal Tony grinned as he spotted his official SFA standing by his desk patiently.

"McGee, look at you…hmmm…all grown up." McGee smiled in amusement at Tony's good natured teasing. He did miss his friend.

"So what did I miss this week?" Tony asked, making his way to his new desk; Gibbs old desk.

"Well nothing I couldn't handle boss." McGee answered proudly.

"Good, and to think the director didn't have any faith in you." Tony mused offhandedly as he unloaded his hands. McGee frowned in confusion.

"What do you…mean…the director?..." McGee muttered but was quickly cut off.

"Gather round people, I come bearing gifts." Tony announced with a grin. Abby bounced on her toes like a little kid while everyone else made their way over.

"For the lovely lady." Tony hummed, displaying the Victorian style black cross necklace with a red jewel in the center to Abby.

"Oh Tony it's beautiful." She grinned, looking at it appreciatively.

"Not to mention incredibly expensive. The Euro is stronger than it used to be." He muttered, looking at the necklace.

"For my senior field agent…." Tony announce and pulled a CD out with a flourish. McGee took it from his hand and frowned down at it.

"The very best of David Hasselhoff." He droned, reading it off. Tony turned around at the tone in McGee's voice, his smile dropping.

"You don't like it?" he asked in a pout. McGee bobbed his head.

"I repeat….the very best of David Hasselhoff." Tim reiterated pointedly. Tony glared and took a step towards the man before slapping him on the back of the head. McGee pursed his lips in confusion.

"What was that for?" he asked, staring at Tony incredulously.

"You listen to Yanni…and you have an unauthorized game on your computer." Tony supplied lamely, raising a brow challengingly. McGee scoffed.

"Actually its…your game Tony." McGee mumbled.

"Yea well you shouldn't have beaten my high score." Tony pouted in annoyance as he went back to rummaging through the bag.

"And for Ziva…das lederhosen…." Tony grinned, using a horrible German accent while holding up the small shorts.

"One size fits all." He remarked smugly, looking at her empty desk.

"Where's Claire's gift?" Abby inquired, staring at Tony innocently. Tony pursed his lips at her pointed teasing and reached into the bag, pulling out a long velvet box.

"It's here and seeing as she hasn't shown up yet I will just keep this with me." He explained innocently, avoiding the amused and curious looks of his teammates.

"I'm sure that must have cost quite a few Euros too." She quipped. Tony scowled at her and quickly put it away in his desk drawer.

"Where is Claire and the little Israeli?" he asked the team, eager to get Abby's attention off the fact that he bought Claire a very nice piece of jewelry.

"Late sir, the second time this week for Ziva. But this is Claire's first offense." Michelle piped up in a professional manor as she answered.

"Agent Lee…my favorite Probie- slash- hall monitor." Tony smiled tightly at her, eyeing her very uptight stance.

"I bet your wondering what the newest member of team DiNozzo gets." Tony commented, turning his back to her and grimacing. He totally forgot about her.

"Well we saved the best for last, here." He continued, staring down into the empty bag. Tony frantically glanced around his desk for something.

"This was not easy getting through customs but…." he lied easily 'pulling' the last gift out of the bag. Michelle grinned until she saw what was in his hands. She frowned in confusion, taking it from him.

"A stapler?" she asked, looking up at Tony as she was much shorter than everyone else.

"It's a German stapler." Tony defended quietly.

"But it says made in china….sir." she corrected, pointing to the marking on the underside. McGee glanced over in amusement as Tony mumbled an uncomfortable 'oh yea' peering down at it. Like any good teammates, he and Abby watched quietly as Tony tried to recover from his foul-up.

"Well German, Eurasian, china is….it's a global village there." Tony mumbled nonsense, quickly getting out of the conversation.

"She's over and hour late sir, that unusual even for them." Michelle pointed out, noticing Tony was glancing at Claire's desk in thought. He pursed his lips in distaste, at her choice of words. It was clear that she wasn't overly fond of the other two women on the team. Ziva scared her and she just didn't click with Claire.

"What did I tell you about worrying, Probie?" Tony pointed to her in a scolding manor as he whisked past her to his own desk. Michelle followed at his heels.

"That it's..uh…your job." She recited.

"See you're learning." Tony grinned, walking around to his seat.

"But she's not…" Tony quickly redirected her to the front of his desk not the side. Michelle paused and scrambled around to face him once more.

"...I'm sorry sir. Neither one is answering their cellphone either." Michelle continued. Tony stared at her for a moment, that statement worrying him a little.

"Ok there is only one thing you need to know about officer David." Tony began.

"Don't make her angry." Agent Lee nodded.

"Ok technically there's really two things…..the other thing is she can take care of herself. And Claire is perfectly fine on her own too. Nothing to worry about." Tony assured the woman. Michelle sighed but it was obvious she didn't agree with it. She glanced around at the rest of the team, noticing that they weren't too worked up over her disappearance. At least outwardly they weren't.

...

"Ziva just call us as soon as you get this message, we're not worried but just give us a call please." McGee left another message on Ziva's cell from his desk phone.

"Ok now I'm starting to worry." Tony admited from his spot behind McGee. He earlier had called Claire and she wasn't picking up either. It wasn't like her. Ziva he wasn't overly surprised as when she wanted privacy she made it hard to reach her. Claire was always good about letting him know what was going on. It had been hours since any of them had seen the girls. He had wondered if something was off ever since he found his apartment empty after the plans he and Claire had made before he left.

...

 _Before Trip to Germany:_

 _Tony plopped his suitcases by the door with a tired sigh. After weeks of being team leader, now Jenny was sending him to Germany to attend conferences and whatever else she wanted done. Lately she had been asking him for some favors under the table and it had been bothering him for a while._

 _"Well you look so excited for this trip." She piped up from behind him. Tony grinned turning to face her. She made her way over and pulled him in for a hug. Tony wrapped his arms tightly around her and sighed, laying his cheek atop her head._

 _"Are you gonna be alright all by yourself?" She inquired cheekily. Tony shrugged, still holding onto her._

 _"I think I'll manage." He assured jokingly. Claire chuckled and pulled away from him to straighten his tie._

 _"Send me a text when you arrive, just to make me feel better." She requested. Tony grinned wryly._

 _"Are you worried about me Ms. Conners?" he hummed in glee. Claire rolled her eyes._

 _"Yes, I think I'm entitled to feel that way when my boyfriend goes overseas." she retorted with a mock glare._

 _"I would be a bit concerned if you didn't worry." He agreed with a laugh. Claire reached up for a quick kiss on his lips. As she pulled away Tony tugged her right back for a few more longer ones._

 _"Now I think that will tide me over until I come back." He grinned. Claire looked down at her watch before picking up one of his bags to hand to him._

 _"You need to go or you'll miss your flight." She pointed out. Tony frowned, taking the case from her._

 _"Alright I can take the hint. Look after McGee while I'm gone. Keep him in line." He requested semi-seriously. It was McGee's first time as team leader and while the director had little faith in him, Tony was ready to see him rise to the occasion._

 _"He'll be fine. I'll see you back here when you return." She reminded, walking out to the door with him._

 _"Will you be wearing something sexy?" he quipped. Claire smacked him lightly in amusement._

...

 **Tony's POV:**

"You think they're alright?" McGee asked, bringing me back to the problem at hand.

"Well if they were alright they would be here mcgee." I pointed out before sighing thoughtfully.

"The question is what would Gibbs do in a situation like this?" I muttered aloud.

"He'd find them, Tony." Director Shepherd piped in from where she was leaning over the cubicle wall behind me. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her prying. Gibbs wouldn't have her hovering over his shoulder like she does to me.

"I'm working on it director." I replied tensely, not bothering turning around.

"Work harder." She coolly suggested. I held back a retort, remaining silent as she walked around to enter the bullpen area.

"The police just found Ziva's car on a sidewalk in Georgetown." She informed.

"Actually, that's not unusual with Ziva's driving." McGee commented honestly.

"Yes, I rode all the way through eastern Europe with her, I should know McGee." She grinned in agreement.

"The other odd thing was Claire was in the car but no Ziva." She elaborated. I frowned and stared at the director curiously.

"What do you mean she was in the car?" I inquired. If she was left there on the curb then that implied that something happened to her. If Ziva is responsible for it I'll kill her. As if answering my question the elevator chimed, and a couple of FBI agents stepped out, trying to pacify a very angry Claire who was shouting at them. I perked up worriedly, taking in the multiple bloodied bandages and bruises that adorned her face and arms. Jenny sighed and pointed her thumb the commotion.

"I believe we are about to find out, in my experience, the FBI doesn't handle traffic violations." She explained tiredly. My eyes narrowed at an unfriendly face that was currently losing the battle against Claire.

"Tony isn't that the guy that tried to put you away for murder?" McGee leaned back to whisper.

"Yes he is, thank you for bringing up a painful memory mcgee." I growled bitterly. Now the man was trying to grab my girlfriend's arm and she was having none of it.

"You knew they were coming Director?" I asked accusingly, turning my attention to my boss. If something happened to my team I should be the first to know about it.

"Calm down Tony, I only just got the call 10 minutes ago." She soothed.

"What do they want with Ziva?" I asked tensely, watching as Agent Sacks made his way towards us, following behind Claire.

"We're about to find out, together." She whispered, turning just as the man made his way over.

"Agent Sacks, Director Shepherd." Jenny greeted in her polite way. I chewed on my cheek nervously, standing up as Claire stormed her way towards me.

"Tell these monkeys that if they even think of taking me to the hospital that I will sue their asses right after I kick them to kingdom come!" she growled, directing her fury at the two FBI agents. I gently reached out for her, taking pulling her closer towards me.

"Sir, she needs to be checked for a concussion and other possible injuries." The man behind Sacks pressed, looked to me for help. I smiled internally at his ragged expression. Leave it to Claire to give the FBI a run for their money.

"No! No hospitals." She instantly protested, crossing her arms across her chest.

"What happened to you?" I asked, making sure to stand by her protectively. I reached up to tilt her chin side to side, examining the cuts along her face along with the faint stain of blood still on her skin. I was a bit wary of her heath if just looking at her was anything go by, but I wasn't about to force her to do anything.

"Why don't we discuss it in a more secure place, Agent DiNozzo." Sack suggested, his displeasure with working with me evident in his tone. I glared at the man before nodding. Just before I followed after the director and….him…I turned to Claire worriedly.

"You really should get checked out." I insisted lowly. Claire bit her lip, looking up at me with a pleading expression.

"Please don't make me go." She whispered urgently. I sighed, well aware of how much she despised hospitals. But for my peace of mind I needed her to be fully cleared medically.

"Why don't you go down and see Ducky? I need to know you're completely fine." I requested. She nodded quietly. Satisfied, I touched her shoulder and squeezed it comfortingly before making my way up the stairs towards the director's office.

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

"Very professional." Tony quipped, walking out of the office with Sacks by his side.

"Your director kicked us both out, DiNozzo." Sacks pointed out just as cranky at Tony was.

"Only because you couldn't keep your soup cooler shut." Tony shot back angrily.

"Well your Mossad liaison officer killed two FBI agents today, leaving one of your own left for dead. Sorry if that pisses me off." Sacks shouted, turning to face Tony with a glare.

"Where's your proof?" Tony countered calmly.

"The car abandoned at the crime scene, Agent Connors bleeding out as she was placed in the blast zone, the Syrian was on their most wanted list, she's disappeared. And oh yea, her brother was a Hamas terrorist." Sacks listed off sassily. Tony pursed his lips, nodding along as he listed the evidence off. It did seem pretty convincing but he knew that wasn't what happened. Ziva wouldn't take part in that.

"From where I come from that's called circumstantial." Tony retorted with a wry grin.

"Really? Where's that then Narnia?" Sacks shot back sarcastically. Tony said nothing.

"It's a fantasy world, the Chronicles of Narnia." Sack explained with an eye roll.

"I know what it is!" Tony shouted in offense as Sacks walked down a few more stairs.

"Ok story. Excellent special effects." He muttered additionally.

"They were definitely kicking." Sacks agreed quickly, not looking at him or acknowledging their common interest.

"But that's not my point. Six months ago, you were convinced I killed a woman and chopped off her legs." Tony reminded, walking down to meet him.

"I'm still not convinced you didn't." Sacks retorted childishly.

"Exactly." Tony muttered.

"So Ziva David is being framed…by who?" the FBI man went along skeptically.

"That's what I intend to find out." Tony whispered assuredly. Sacks chuckled humorlessly.

"Good luck with that." He quipped. Before he could leave another voice interrupted their squabble.

"You two, up here now." Director Shepherd called, sounding like a mother scolding her children.

"Director will you please tell Agent Slacks..."

"Sacks, its Sacks." The man agent growled.

"Will you tell Agent Slacks that we will be handling this one in house." Tony continued regardless. Jenny sighed and turned to Agent Sacks.

"I just assured your director that the FBI will be getting NCIS complete cooperation on this matter." She explained. Sacks shot Tony a smug grin.

"Thank you ma'am." He thanked her with a nod.

"If Ziva David tries to contact you or anyone on your team, I want you to notify myself and Agent Sacks. Immediately." She explained to Tony who refused to look at her. He clenched his jaw.

"This is complete bul…"

"This is an order from your Director, Agent DiNozzo. Is that clear enough for you?" she challenged, unwavering from Tony's glare.

"Almost crystal ma'am." He grounded out. Jenny nodded giving each of them a pointed look before returning to her office. Sacks grinned as Tony silently seethed.

"I give you my word that I will…try to keep an open mind on this." Sacks told him.

"Yea?" Tony asked skeptically.

"Yea." He nodded.

"Listen about what happened a second ago.."

"Oh no hard feelings….I got it." Sacks clapped him on the shoulder.

"No I was gonna say that I still pretty much hate your guts sacks." Tony snarled.

"Me too DiNozzo, me too." Sacks shot him a nod before heading back downstairs.

"Tony." Director Shepherd quietly called once the FBI man had left. Tony turned to her just waiting to see what other scolding he was gonna get.

"That question you asked me earlier? What would Gibbs do? Gibbs isn't here, you are." She pointed out. Tony stared at her thoughtfully, his mind reeling with plans. So, what would Tony DiNozzo do?"

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Abby sat in her dark lab staring at a surveillance picture of Gibbs that was put up on every computer in the room. Turns out a I had a slight concussion but not bad enough where I would take myself off work for the day. Ziva was in hot water and even though I don't quite remember all of what happened, due to my head being knocked around, I know she wasn't behind this. So after getting checked and mothered by Ducky I decided to sit with Abby. She kept the room dark for my sake and I was there to try and help curb her sugar addiction today.

"Gibbs…this is really really bad." She muttered to the picture, digging into her jar of M&Ms. I reached over and closed the jar before holding it to my chest so she couldn't grab it. Abby frowned but went back to looking at her monitors.

"Ziva has disappeared and everyone is saying that she's just like her brother. I really really need you to calm me. Please" She ranted, still filling her mouth full of the candy she had snagged. Suddenly her phone rang and we stared at it in bewilderment.

"Gibbs?!" she asked, yanking the phone to her ear.

 _"Abby its Ziva."_

"Ziva? Are you alright?" Abby asked, quickly swallowing her sugar.

 _"No and don't say my name so loud."_

"Sorry…where are you?" she continued worriedly.

 _"At a safe place at the moment."_

"The FBI was here and Tony was freaking out."

" _Was Claire ok?"_

"Yea she's fine, just a bit shaken up." Abby assured.

 _"Abby I need you to do a favor for me."_

"You name it."

 _"First, you can't tell anyone I've spoken to you."_

"Except Tony, right?" Abby corrected.

 _"No, not even Tony. If I talk to him he'll get in trouble with the FBI."_

"Well what about Claire?...cause she's kinda here already listening in." Abby chuckled nervously.

 _"That is fine I suppose, but don't let it get any further."_

"What do you need?" Abby asked.

 _"A phone number."_ Abby nodded and began jotting down the information.

"Alright, I'll call you back at this number." she told her unaware of the new audience we had acquired. I quickly nudged Abby on her arm.

"Abby?" Tony called from the doorway. She quickly hung up the phone and rushed over to meet them.

"Who was that?" he asked curiously. Abby stared at him wide eyed for a moment.

"Where?" she asked. Tony furrowed his brows.

"On the phone." He told her slowly.

"Oh um..the..it..it was the nuns." She gestured back to the phone as she fumbled for an excuse. They both stared at her blankly before looking to me questioningly.

"Yup, that's who it was." I nodded, inwardly cringing at how bad this lie was.

"The..nuns?" McGee reiterated.

"You know nuns with the big white hats and the um.."

"The abbots, you know they're called abbots….the white hats." McGee muttered to Tony who was running a hand up and down his head in frustration.

"Yup they called to say that bowling practice is cancelled." She quickly added, waving her hands around as she spoke. I groaned quietly, reaching up to pinch the bridge of my nose. Thankfully it will look like I just have a headache. McGee narrowed his eyes at her.

"Bowling nuns.." he trailed off skeptically.

"Geez mcgee what, I mean area you on some anti-nun crusade here?" Abby asked flustered and still on a sugar high. McGee jerked his head back and scrunched his face up in confusion.

"What?"

"Ok alright, lay off the nuns." Tony shook his head dismissively, indicating for McGee to just drop it.

"Abby I need a way to contact Gibbs, If we're going to get Ziva out of this I'm gonna need his advice." Tony requested.

"Well last I heard he was still in Mexico." Abby explained

"Well there must be some way to contact him." Tony continued. Abby shrugged innocently.


	2. Chapter 2

[Shalom: 2]

...

 **Claire's POV:**

After a whole night of not finding anything on Ziva or Gibbs and the FBI poking its nose into our business, Tony dismissed the team early so we could get a head start in the morning. Like I had dreaded Tony insisted that he stay at my house to keep watch over me. I mean I guess it wasn't totally unreasonable as Ducky confirmed I did have a slight concussion. But that didn't mean I was happy about it. He promptly opened the door for me, letting me head in first.

"Alright, nothing but relaxing in the dark for you. No phone no, TV." Tony ordered sternly, following Ducky's recommendations. I frowned at him but didn't protest as I was gaining a small headache.

"Alright go ahead and get into your bed while I order pizza." He rattled on, already heading to my landline in the kitchen.

"What if I don't want pizza?" Tony stared at me like I had grown a second head.

"You sure it's just a minor concussion?" he asked, looking at me in mock concern. I stuck my tongue out at him and make my way into my bedroom. Tony came into the room after I had just gotten out of the bathroom, having done my nightly ritual. I went to crawl under my covers but my movement pulled on one of my stitches in my side, causing me to gasp in pain. Apparently, Tony interpreted it as I was dying and he flew to my side, hovering his hands over me as he tried to fix it.

"Just a tug at my stitches caught me off guard. Back off a moment." I snapped. Tony eyed me but complied. Once I was settled I rubbed the bridge of my nose as the headache grew.

"Sorry, my head is making me cranky." I apologized. Tony chuckled, sitting down next to my leg.

"No, the fact that you're hurt makes you cranky. You are literally the worst sick person on earth." He pointed out knowingly. I glared at him but I couldn't really refute that cause I knew it was true. Tony grinned at my put out expression and leaned in to press a kiss to my lips. I still refused to smile for him so he went in for another, then a few more until I finally caved.

"I don't mind you being so cranky. I like taking care of you." He confessed in a whisper. Dang it, why did he have to be sweet when I'm trying to be in a foul mood.

"I guess it could be worse." I chuckled, earning an eye roll. The doorbell rang, getting his attention and he stood to go get the pizza that had arrived. After a minute Tony came bounding into the room, noticeably happier now that he was about to be fed. As he set the box of pizza in the center of the bed he pulled out the bottle of advil and water that he had grabbed while he was gone. I took it from him gratefully and downed the meds before reaching over for the pizza. Tony made his way over to the other side of the bed and picked up his own slice. The two of us continued like that, just eating pizza and talking for a few hours until it was ok for me to sleep. Tony remained by my side the whole night making sure to get me up a couple times just in case. Despite how much I disliked being babied, I could secretly admit that I liked when he took care of me too.

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

"Two days, how long are these guys going to be here." Tony grouched, watching from the side as the FBI combed over all their desks for evidence. He glared across the room at Claire who was chatting up Sacks by his desk. Tony silently fumed as Sacks was seemingly charmed by his girl, answering everything she asked and allowing her to assist them when she could. He didn't like it one bit, and Claire knew how much she despised the FBI agent. Why was she over there anyway?

"Officer David has been here for a year, who knows how badly she compromised our security." Lee commented, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"What did you just say Probie?" McGee asked incredulously, staring down at her in a warning manor.

"Oh come on McGee, you think we don't spy on our allies too? It happens all the time." She explained.

"Agent Lee." Tony growled, his irritation redirected. Michelle jumped and spun to face him.

"Shut up and keep and eye on the feds. McGee you're with me, we got places to be." Tony ordered.

"Claire with us." Tony barked, surprising her a bit. She politely excused herself and Sacks grinned deviously at Tony, enjoying the subdued rage on his features. Claire bent under the caution tape surrounding the bullpen before trailing after Tony.

"We should be done here DiNozzo in another 5…6 more hours." Sacks gloated with a grin as he watched the agents stalk off. As the three turned the corner Tony stopped and whipped around to face Claire and McGee.

"McGee, grab Abby and meet us in autopsy. Claire, a word please." Tony suggested, staring at Claire accusingly while she stared back at him in mild amusement. McGee eyed them curiously before disappearing in the elevator. Tony led Claire into a separate elevator silently. Once a few seconds had gone by he reached over and flicked the switch, stopping the elevator and dimming the lights.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he blurted sourly.

"What are you talking about?"

"What am I…I'm talking about the laughing and the smiling and the whole flirty persona you got going on with Slacks." Tony sputtered, crossing his arms defensively.

"Just thought I would keep my friends close but my enemies closer." She explained, looking up at him seriously. Tony frowned at her in thought.

"…..that's actually a good idea…. but that doesn't mean I have to like it." He pouted looking away from her. Claire giggled, she kinda liked him being the jealous one for once. She leaned up to press a kiss to the corner of his lips. Tony slowly let a grin slip onto his face and pulled her towards him by the waist.

"I know you won't, but on the bright side it keeps him off your back." She gently told him, running her fingers across his chest and shoulders. Tony smiled at her affection before it abruptly turned into a frown.

"Yea but that also means he'll have his beady eyes on yours the whole time." He growled.

"Well at least it gets its use. Now someone can openly stare at it in the office." Claire grinned deviously at the way he bristled.

"That's not funny."

"It's kinda funny."

"Alright then, walk ahead of me so I can get my fill before Slacks tries to stake his claim." He told her, leaning in towards her with a grin. Claire bit her lip and reached over to turn the elevator back on. As the door opened, Tony gestured for her to go first.

...

Down in autopsy the doors had been sealed and the hazard lights flashing so the team could conduct their secret meeting in peace. The group surrounded a small table in the corner of the dark room, with a small bulb light overtop to give them light.

"First off, this is a strictly voluntary thing. Ok, Ziva's a fugitive. Anyone caught helping or assisting her in any way will be in serious trouble." Tony began, looking at everyone who had gathered with a pointed stare. Palmer shot his hand up.

"Question, Palmer?" Tony looked over at the man beside him.

"Um by serious you mean…we could like…get fired?" he inquired nervously.

"He means Mr. Palmer, that instead of attending medical school next month, you will most likely be in prison." Ducky elaborated for him.

"Oh.." Jimmy muttered in alarm. Abby quickly thrust her hand onto the table.

"I'm in." she announced.

"Danger, intrigue, a damsel in distress. I'm actually looking forward to it." Ducky added, sliding his hand atop of hers.

"Me too." McGee agreed, putting in his hand. Everyone turned to Palmer who was the next in the circle.

"Um….I'm….I'm not exactly the type that would do well in prison, guys." He stuttered.

"No one is going to think less of you if you want out Palmer." Tony assured.

"Really?" Jimmy perked up in relief.

"Well no. We probably would, at least I would." Tony glared at the man threateningly. Jimmy sighed.

"Alright then I want a code name, something cool sounding." He finally agreed, adding his hand to the pileup.

"I for one think I would thrive in jail. Just stick with me Palmer." Claire joked semi seriously as she put her own hand in. Everyone stared at her with variation of emotions ranging from incredulous and amused. She just shrugged and turned to Tony who was grinning at her.

"Alright." Tony nodded, topping the pile off with his own hand.

"No one can know about this, especially the Director. We all good with that?" Tony inquired, looking around. Everyone nodded.

"Alright then let's figure out how to find her." he began.

"McGee, I want you on her electronic track. Cellphone, computer, toaster oven if you have to. Ducky I need you to talk to your friends at the FBI. I want to know everything about that Georgetown crime scene. Palmer, how does Black Lung sound?" Palmer's face scrunched up in disgust.

"Like a horrible and painful way to die." He commented, eyeing Tony incredulously.

"I mean as your codename." Tony corrected. Jimmy's face lit up in delight.

"Oh, I like it."

"Alright then you're in charge of supplies, Black Lung." Tony told him, dropping his voice to sound like James bond.

"Which means lunch and at this point probably dinner." Claire elaborated.

"Alright Undercover Lover, you keep working with the FBI, keep me in the loop." Tony continued looking to Claire who frowned in distaste at her nickname.

"That's so immature." She scowled. Abby grinned behind her hand while McGee stared at them in confusion. It was obvious that he was still bitter about her fraternizing with Sacks. Tony shrugged the comment off before continuing.

"Abs… I need you to go…"

"I talked to Ziva yesterday." She blurted out. Everyone looked to her in surprise, except for Claire who winced.

"You don't bowl with nuns…I should have seen that coming." Tony huffed in annoyance that he had bought the story she fed them.

"But I do. Ziva made us promise not to tell." Abby clarified.

"Wait us?" McGee asked. Abby froze and shot a look over at Claire. Everyone followed her gaze and stared at the other culprit curiously.

"I was eavesdropping, it wasn't intentional. Sorry." She admitted.

"Why would Ziva care if we knew that you bowled with nuns?" Ducky asked in confusion.

"I think they mean that Ziva didn't want us getting in trouble, Ducky." Tony deadpanned.

"Well it's a bit late for that. Where is she?" Ducky turned to Abby. She pursed her lips before pulling out a sticky note from her pocket.

"All I have is this number" Tony quickly yanked it from her hands, already pulling out his cell to dial. After a few dial tones Tony sighed.

"Well there's no answer…Abby are you sure that this…" he paused as the click sounded, signaling that someone had picked up.

"Ziva….we love you too." He shot back snarkily at her not so pleased response.

"No, you're not, you're going to tell us what the hell is going on here." he continued heatedly.

"Well then I'll come to you. I'm also trying to get ahold of Gibbs right now but I'm not having any luck." Tony's face dropped in shock as a new voice, Gibbs, came on the line.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Tony and I had made our way over to Gibb's house as Abby had put a GPS on the number. I should have guessed this in the first place. Like usual it wasn't even unlocked. Walking through the house we heard voices coming from the basement and made our way in.

"I don't believe in.." the door to the basement creaked open and Ziva whipped around pointing her gun in our direction.

"In coincidences? I know." She muttered watching the stairs. As she couldn't see us from the other side of the boat we continued down calmly.

"Lucky for you neither do I" Tony added, walking down the stairs, coffee in hand.

"According to the FBI I should be the one aiming my weapon at you." Tony mused, giving Ziva a pointed look. She pursed her lips and put away her weapon as we made our way over to them at the laptop.

"You were set up." Gibbs muttered. Ziva looked at him.

"The only Mossad liaison officer in DC.."

"Just happens to be present at an Al Qaida style hit?" I finished Gibb's train of thought. Of course, that made perfect sense. Ziva frowned thinking back to the whole situation of how she was lured into following the motorcycle past the café. She groaned, rubbing her temples roughly.

"Oh god I'm an idiot. He led me to the scene, Alil framed me." She realized irritably.

"Well don't feel too bad, I didn't pick up it either and it was kinda obvious." I chimed in with a shrug.

"Yea but the question is why." Gibbs prodded, looking to Ziva curiously.

"I figured you'd be needing this." Tony muttered holding up a cell for Gibbs. Instead Gibbs snatched Tony's coffee from the other hand.

"Um I meant the NCIS cellphone, that's my coffee." he pointed out. Gibbs frowned at the cup before turning to Tony.

"Do I still look like your boss?" Gibbs inquired sarcastically, holding his arms out. We glanced over the man who had shaggy grey hair and a scraggly beard, adorned with an old collared shirt that was untucked. So the answer would be a very run down version of him.

"Fooled me. I mean a shave and a haircut wouldn't hurt." I joked, grinning awkwardly. Gibbs laughed, unnerving us even more. I don't like this Gibbs, I'd rather have the stare at this point.

"That whole smile thing is throwing me off too." Tony pointed out, watching Gibbs cautiously.

"It's good to see you again McGee." Gibbs grinned, shaking Tony's hand. His grin dropped.

"DiNozzo." He corrected, frowning at the man. He would never admit it but Gibbs opinion was everything to him, if Gibbs really didn't remember then that would crush him.

"What did I say?" Gibbs asked, sipping on the coffee once more.

"You called him McGee." Ziva answered, just as lost as the rest of us. Gibbs hummed.

"Well that's probably because if I left him in charge you wouldn't be on the FBI's 10 most wanted list right now." Gibbs pointed out dryly. Tony and I shared a glance. That comment definitely didn't sit well with me.

"There's no way to tell that. I don't think warrants pointing fingers." I cut in pointedly. Gibbs eyed me with a subtle grin. If I was supposed to take care of Tony I wasn't afraid to defend him against the man with a steely gaze. Tony had been through enough already from the rest of the team, he didn't need it from Gibbs. Then again maybe that's what he was hoping I'd do, if the pleased look on his face was anything to go by.

"But…but you do remember…" Tony asked, trailing off as he looked between Gibbs and I worriedly.

"That I left you in charge, yea I remember that I left you in charge DiNozzo. What I forgot was your taste in coffee. It stinks." Gibbs grimaced, handing the cup back to Tony.

"I like a lot of sugar, it's my weakness." he mumbled. Gibbs grunted.

"What's our plan?" Tony continued, drifting to the important topic.

"Things are bad enough for NCIS as it is Tony, you can't…."

"I don't remember asking your opinion officer David." Tony cut her off loudly and pointedly.

"You see he's been completely insufferable since you left." Ziva complained, shooting Tony a glare.

"Maybe he wouldn't have to be if you actually followed orders for once and stopped giving him all this crap." I shot back tightly. Ziva bristled, again not liking my calling her out.

"That true?" Gibbs inquired, looking to the man. Tony clenched his jaw and glared back at Ziva who refused to back down.

"When I need to be." He responded quietly. The three of us continued to glare at one another while Gibbs hummed thoughtfully.

"Maybe you were the right man for the job." He mused with a small grin. Tony's eyes lit up with pride.

"Our plan is to find this guy before he gets out of the country."

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

Back in Abby's lab, McGee was staring at a photo of Alil Eschel, leaning back in the chair. Tony and Claire had returned with some new information about Ziva's frame up. Now they had to figure out what to do with it, all without tipping off the FBI and Director.

"How to put out a BOLO without the FBI finding out about it?" McGee mused aloud.

"I knew you'd ask me that McGee." Tony's voice rang on his little recorder he tended to carry around. Claire rolled her eyes. Glancing back at Abby she frowned, seeing her friend dipping her fingers into a hidden jar and eating. Knowing it was another type of candy Claire quickly rushed over and closed the lid, before taking it out of the room while Abby pouted.

"See I knew you'd ask me that McGee." Tony reiterated from beside him smugly.

"And?" Tim asked, blinking at him.

"And I…I don't know." Tony muttered.

"Any suggestions?" he asked, looking back over at Abby who was pacing rapidly by her evidence table.

"You could tell the FBI about Eschel and let them hunt him down?" she suggested, munching on the last of her stolen M&Ms. Claire had returned to the room by this time and frowned at her.

"And when they ask how we know about him?" she pointed out.

"We talked to Ziva.." Abby realized with a frown. She pumped her arms angrily, happening to squeeze Bert the hippo who let out a fart noise as she did. Claire held back a smirk.

"McGee?" Tony playfully scolded.

"Tony, what if we lied?" McGee suggested thoughtfully, ignoring Tony's antics.

"Sacks is an egotistical, self-centered, jack hole…..but he's not an idiot." Tony replied in distaste.

"No, I mean, lie on the BOLO. Instead of looking for a rogue Mossad spy wanted for murder, we put out a bolo for a wife beater." McGee elaborated as he typed up the fake BOLO on the screen.

"It's underhanded….devious…" Tony mused in approval.

"And its completely getting me hot." Abby added with a nod as she stared at the screen. They turned to stare at her curiously. Sugar put her in a funny mood.

"Well glad to see I'm finally rubbing off on him." Tony mused, ignoring the comment. He held up his recorder.

"Do it." The recorded version ordered. McGee nodded, still unsure of how to take any of those comments. But he just rolled with it anyway. Tony gestured for Claire to follow him to the elevators so she could take her post with Sacks.

"Why do you use that thing anyway? Is it really that hard to say two words instead of push a button?" she asked, staring at the tape recorder as they rode up. Tony frowned in offense.

"It's cool and I can record meetings of the team." He defended weakly. Claire rolled her eyes.

"Recording meetings is ok I guess, but recording little 'catch phrases?' that's stupid." She told him bluntly, putting air quotes around catch phrases.

"You're stupid."

"What?"

"Nothing." Tony quickly covered. Claire chuckled in amusement. It was times like this where Tony's childish charms helped to ease the tension of their job.

...

In the bullpen Claire was pointing out random files that 'might be helpful' as the FBI was looking over Tony's computer.

"Can't thank you enough for being helpful on this case. Doesn't seem like your coworkers are as cooperative." Sacks complimented once she had backed away. Claire shrugged coyly.

"Well not all of them can appreciate the work you're doing here." She crooned. The man grinned proudly; just the response she was looking for. His attention was redirected as he received a call.

"Sacks." He answered, the growing frown on his face caught her attention.

"Who is this?...How do I know this is legit?" he questioned the person on the other line. Sacks frowned as the person hung up and he received a picture message. One of Ziva David. Claire's eyes widend subtly as she saw the picture from over his shoulder.

"We got a tip guys, house in Fairfax." Sacks alerted his team, already heading towards the elevators. Claire watched them go before walking around the stairwell and pulling out her own phone to send a text. **Get out now.**

...

"We're still not sure what the hell happened DiNozzo, or even if she was in there when the house blew up." Sacks explained to Tony as the two walked the hallways of NCIS that night. Sacks had followed up on the tip they got and when they arrived at the house, it blew up. None of the NCIS team had heard from Gibbs or Ziva, so Tony sought out the only information he could get. Which just happened to be from Sacks.

"Bodies?" Tony asked quietly.

"It was incinerated we won't even be able to process the scene until at least tomorrow." Sack muttered sourly.

"What makes you think she was there?" Tony asked sharply as they rounded a corner.

"A tip."

"From who?" Sacks frowned.

"Anonymous. My guess is that it was someone from inside Mossad who was trying to make nice." Sacks told him, punching the elevator button.

"Or someone tying up loose ends." Tony countered.

"For all we know she blew up the building to cover her own tracks." Sacks shot back, stepping into the elevator cab.

"Maybe she was only looking for the guy who set her up." Tony pointed out sternly. Sacks stared at him in skeptically.

"You mind telling me how you know that?" he requested.

"This is what I do." Tony deadpanned as the doors closed, separating the two. Tony bit his lip and looked down at his phone worriedly. He looked up to see the medical examiner standing nearby, waiting for an update.

"Not good Ducky" Tony answered the unspoken question.

"You did manage to call them, didn't you?" Dr. Mallard asked.

"I got Gibb's voicemail. I don't think he ever learned how to use it." Tony explained, looking down at his phone again.

"And the number Abby has for Ziva?" Ducky continued.

"Not picking up." Tony muttered.

"Well then there's only one thing for you to do." Ducky mused.

"I know, inform Director Shepherd that they're probably both dead and resign for disobeying a direct order." Tony huffed in agitation.

"You will do nothing of the sort Anthony DiNozzo." Ducky told him sternly. Tony turned to face them at the sound of his full name.

"And why is that?" he asked lowly.

"Because the man who did that is still out there. And I'll be dammed if we let him get away with it." Ducky told him adamantly. Tony smiled tightly.

"What would Gibbs do, right?" Tony asked, nodding jerkily as he came to that question once again. Tony's face hardened.

"I got a bulletin for you Ducky, I am not Gibbs." He pointed out, restraining the bitterness about being compared to his former boss.

"No, you're not. Gibbs quit, you're still here." Ducky elaborated seriously, squaring up at Tony who had his arms crossed over his chest. Tony bit his cheek. Maybe Claire wasn't the only one who thought it was good to be different.

"Why wasn't I with Ziva? I turned over my responsibility to him without even thinking about it." Tony confessed, voicing the thoughts that had been troubling him for some time now. Ducky shrugged.

"Gibbs is one of the most capable agents…"

"WAS Ducky." Tony cut him off.

"I mean it didn't even look like Gibbs, I think he went native down there…" Ducky tried to interrupt but Tony was now gone on one of his tangents. So, the man tried in vain to get his attention.

"…I mean his hair was long and crazy looking. He's got this scraggly beard.." Ducky held his hands up in warning but again it went ignored.

"…he looks like a pirate or something. His eyes are all bloodshot, most likely from drinking hooch from morning to night with Franks…"

"It's called a red eye for a reason." A voice cut in coolly from behind him. Tony froze, his eyes locked at a spot on the wall while Ducky shot a grin over his shoulder. The older man looked at him as if to say, 'I tried to warn you', which he did. Tony whipped around to look at Gibbs as he was tapped on the shoulder. He stood there for a moment gaping at the man thought dead.

"The flight I was on all night to get here." Gibbs elaborated. Tony sighed in relief and quickly hugged the man.

"Oh, geeze you're alright." He smiled, pulling away and patting Gibbs on the shoulder.

"I'm good"

"Yea?"

"Yea thank Ziva. I've already been blown up twice Tony, don't think I got a third one in me." Gibbs told him. He held up a set of car keys.

"Space 73, presents in the back for Abby and autopsy, don't be seen." Gibbs ordered. Tony nodded before dashing off, once again sinking back into his role as Gibb's right hand man.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

In Abby's lab McGee was finishing up a scan of the fingerprints that we got off the body in autopsy. Apparently, this accomplice had been dead by the time Ziva and Gibbs made it to the house that was blown up. I stood beside Abby, staring at the two men before me who had identical stances. For as much as Tony tries to be 'un-Gibbs like' he's doing a horrible job at keeping it that way. It was kinda freaky.

"We got a match on the dead guy's prints. Alash Sasneed." McGee informed his 'bosses'. Tony and Gibbs watched on the plasma side by side as they sipped their coffee in unison. I hid a smile as they stared down at the cups in distaste. They glanced at one another before promptly switching the cups.

"Arrested 5 years ago for reckless driving. An illegal from Iran, his student visa expired last year, boss." Tim finished.

"Good job McGee." They both commented in unison. Tony glanced at Gibbs and hesitantly backed off. He turned slightly to look at me in question. I used my eyes to gesture towards Gibbs pointedly. If Tony wanted to get past this, he needed to start being assertive around Gibbs. Tony shook his head in mild alarm. 'Do it', I mouthed with a glare. Tony pouted before turning back around to stare at the screen.

"What about the cellphone Eschel called us on Abs?" Gibbs continued, not noticing what had just happened behind his back.

"I isolated the grid the call came from." Abby answered.

"Nice work Abs." Tony quickly blurted out, glancing away from Gibb's curious gaze. I rolled by eyes. That's not what I meant but its baby steps.

"Actually, no Tony. The grid includes the entire city of Woodbridge Virginia. He could be anywhere in there." She protested.

"Great we got nothing." Gibbs deadpanned.

"Well an ex-Mossad officer working with an Iranian student is something Gibbs." Tony strongly protested. I watched them with a small smile. That was much better. Gibbs shrugged.

"Not if it doesn't help us find Echel in time." He countered. Tony visibly deflated and started to follow Gibbs out the door. I glanced around, scrambling for something to salvage this whole case.

"McGee the bolo we put out yesterday?" I asked. McGee frowned at me in confusion.

"Any hits?" I asked pointedly. At this Gibbs paused by the door and Tony perked up. He strode over towards us and glowered at McGee's flushed expression.

"You completely forgot about that didn't you?" Tony growled.

"This ones on me boss." Tim apologized, reaching up to slap himself on the head. He quickly pulled the BOLO up.

"We have multiple hits." McGee told them. Tony shot Gibbs a pointed glance as he got the man's attention. As Gibbs made his way over, Tony turned and gave me a small, thankful smile. He just needed a little nudge to get going.

"Six men fitting his description. Three in Delaware, one in Pennsylvania. And one in Virginia. The closest match, a local cop spotted a man fitting his exact profile at a Freemont Inn." McGee read off.

"Where McGee?" Tony and Gibbs overlapped instantly.

"Woodbridge, Virginia." He answered, eyeing them. The two men nodded and made their way out the door together. As they passed, they both tossed out their coffee in the trash. Abby, McGee and I paused for a moment, staring at where they had left.

"I'm not the only one that finds that weird, am I?" I inquired.

"No"

"Right there with ya." The two agreed. I nodded.

"I thought so." I muttered, before heading towards the elevator. At least one of us should be up in the bullpen.

...

 **Tony's POV:**

"I'm telling you Gibbs if you call her she won't wait for us." I sighed knowingly as Gibbs pulled out his cell up in the bullpen.

"She will if I tell her to." Gibbs countered. I shook his head, already knowing that wasn't going to be the case. Ziva didn't follow orders. I tuned out Gibb's conversation as I trailed after him. Once he had hung up in frustration I decided to comment.

"Let me guess she's going without us?" I mused, watching his expression. Nothing new.

"If she kills him there won't be any way to prove the Israelis are behind this." Gibbs muttered sourly.

"Yea I know. Let's roll." I scoffed as the elevator opened. Gibbs snatched me by the shirt as I began to enter the elevator. No, he was not making me take backseat again! Gathering up some gusto, I whipped around to face my old boss.

"Hey, no. this is my team now Gibbs, my rules. And DiNozzo's rule number one, I don't sit on the sidelines when my people are in trouble. If you've got a problem with that then let's remember who's got the badge and who's a civilian." I heatedly told Gibbs, staring the man down with a determined fire in his eyes. Gibbs listened and watched silently as I refused to shy away. This threw me off a little as he hadn't leveled me with one of his icy glares. After a beat of silence Gibbs reached up and slapped me on the back of the head. I instantly straightened up in offense. He just hit me.

"I was gonna say, get McGee and Conners. I'll meet you there." he explained evenly. I stopped him from getting in with a hand on his chest. Gibbs eyed me curiously.

"You know I could arrest you for striking a federal officer." I pointed out challengingly.

"I know that." Gibbs deadpanned, amusement in his eyes. I nodded as we switched places.

"Alright, just so ya know." I told him. I shot Gibbs a quick smirk before heading to grab the other two. Gibbs grinned.

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

Pulling up in two cars, the team filed out and whipped out their weapon as the sounds of a fight could be heard from outside. Rushing up to the door the agents quickly barged in the room, Tony taking the lead as he scanned the room.

"Ziva you ok?" McGee asked glancing between her and the bodies in the room. Eschel was dead on the bed and another woman was out cold on the floor. Ziva panted, holding her midsection painfully.

"I'm ok McGee." She assured.

"You should have waited." Gibbs told her as the put their guns up. She sighed, leaning back against the dresser. Claire quickly holstered her gun and went over to Ziva, letting her swing an arm around her shoulders for support. Surprisingly Ziva didn't protest.

"Who's she?" Tony asked, looking at the woman on the floor.

"Iranian intelligence. They were behind it all." Ziva informed them.

"How do you plan on proving that?" Claire inquired.

"I've been with NCIS for a year. I'm not just a killer anymore." She answered. Ziva pulled up her shirt to reveal a tape recorder strapped to her chest. She took if off and tossed it to Tony.

"I'm an investigator." Ziva announced. They all stared at her appreciatively, as she had taken another step in the right direction.

"Now can I go home?" she asked tiredly.

...

In the Director's office Tony and Ziva sat at the table watching a news report on the case. Ziva sat stiffly with a bandage across her nose and two black eyes while Tony lounged back in his chair.

"The FBI report they apprehended the Iranian terrorist believed to be responsible for the death of two of their agents. Two other agents were also apprehended in a standoff with federal authorities in Woodbridge Virginia." Director Shepherd turned down the volume.

"Federal authorities." Tony scoffed.

"They mean us." He gestured at the television irritably.

"It's just four stinking letters. NCIS." Tony pouted.

"It's either that story, Tony or the FBI charges you with interfering with their investigation." Jenny deadpanned. Tony pursed his lips and swung back to the TV.

"I can live with federal authorities." He muttered. Director Shepherd turned off the feed.

"Welcome home Ziva." She greeted, heading towards the Israeli. Ziva grunted as she stood slowly.

"Well I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Gibbs." She smiled.

"And me." Tony added with a grin. The women glanced over at him.

"Sure but uh…mostly Gibbs." Ziva continued.

"Speaking of which?" the director looked over at Tony in question.

"He's in the squad room." Tony informed her and followed as the group headed down that direction.

...

Downstairs McGee had his feet up, glancing over some papers while Lee worked quietly at her own desk. Claire anxiously leaned on Tony's desk, waiting for them to walk back down. The three arrived and glanced around the room in confusion as someone was still missing.

"Where is he McGee, Abby's lab?" Jenny inquired. McGee sat up straight at their presence.

"Gibbs left, ma'am. He said he had a plane to catch." McGee informed her. Tony deflated and frowned.

"You sure about that, McGee?" he asked, staring at Tim incredulously.

"Yea Tony I'm sure." McGee nodded. Tony grinned humorlessly.

"Nah, cause he didn't even say goodbye to me." Tony scoffed in disbelief to cover up the hurt. He glanced over towards Claire who smiled sympathetically. Gibbs had left suddenly again, this time not even saying goodbye. McGee stared at him with a shrug.

"Director, he wanted me to give this to you." Tim piped up, handing Jenny a small blank envelope. Tony looked over her shoulder as she pulled out an old picture of her outside a worn-down hut.

"Oh nice snap. Where was that taken?" Tony asked curiously.

"Serbia." The director smiled.

"When?" Ziva asked.

"A lifetime ago."


	3. Chapter 3

[Escaped: 1] 

**...**

 **3rd Person POV:**

Ziva leaned over McGee's desk with a grimace as she inspected his face. Claire stood beside her, biting down on her thumb, staring at him with worried eyes. This was bad, very bad.

"It's really not that bad, McGee." Ziva told him, her voice going up a pitch. Claire shot her an incredulous glance.

"You know for a spy, you're a horrible liar." McGee grumbled.

"Ziva's right, you can hardly notice…but.."

"But?" he asked, picking up on agent Lee's hesitance.

"I wouldn't let agent DiNozzo see it if I were you." She finished.

"Would let me DiNozzo see what?" Tony asked, marching into the bullpen. The girls quickly scattered and Tony started putting away his gear at his desk. He eyed them all critically.

"Nothing.." McGee mumbled. Tony frowned at him.

"Why are you mumbling McGee?" he asked curiously.

"I'm not mumbling." Tim insisted, purposefully making sure his lips covered his teeth as he talked. This caused it to come out muffled. Tony turned fully towards the man and smirked deviously.

"Well you either said 'mimes aren't rumbling' or 'I'm not mumbling' and I don't see any mimes." Tony pointed out, slowly making his way over to McGee's desk. McGee glanced up but said nothing. Tony turned to Ziva who averted her eyes. Glancing at Clarie, she mimed zipping her lip, not looking up from her paperwork. This left only one person, who he knew would answer.

"Agent Lee." Tony called, still eyeing McGee.

"Why is Agent McGee mumbling?" he asked. McGee shot Lee a wary look. Silently begging for her to keep her mouth shut.

"He overbleached his teeth sir." She promptly answered. They all grumbled, shooting her an accusatory glare. Lee gestured to Tony with a shrug. She already had trouble fitting in with the team, she didn't need anything else to add to the plate. Tony pursed his lips, clasping his hands together in delight.

"Apparently, he fell asleep while wearing his bleaching tray, sir." Lee continued.

"You don't watch FRIENDS do you? Same thing happened to Ross. You could have learned from our friend's mistake. But you chose to read instead." Tony chuckled, his delight in McGee's blunder obvious to everyone. McGee glowered, and covered up his mouth with his hand.

"Let me see the damage." Tony ordered, eyeing the man. Tim scoffed and rose his brow incredulously. Like he would be stupid enough to do that. Tony pouted, glancing around to see that no one was going to back him up on this.

"As team leader people, I need to be aware of any condition that might affect an agent's ability to perform his or her duties." Tony announced loudly, throwing his arms out to the side as he tried to justify his inquiry.

"What does having embarrassingly white teeth have to do with performing his duty?" Ziva asked.

"You said it was not that bad." McGee muttered, glaring at Ziva.

"She lied." Claire told him pointedly. McGee wasn't amused. Tony quickly bent down and stared intently at the side of McGee's head.

"Open up your mouth."

"No"

"Let me see the chicklets"

"No"

"Let me see them"

"No." McGee held firm, making sure to open his mouth as little as possible.

"Open. Your…Gibbs?" Tony stood up abruptly, staring wide eyed at the man that was swiftly heading towards the stairs. The team watched as Gibbs headed towards the director's office, not bothering to greet any of them.

"What is?.."

"I have no idea." Tony answered Tim's unspoken question.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

We all stared at the office where Gibbs had disappeared to. Why was he here? Tony turned to me, his eyes speaking volumes. How will we find out what he's up to without Gibbs finding out? I pursed my lips thoughtfully.

"You know….Cynthia is right outside the door." I mused, glancing down at Tony's office phone. We all locked gazes before scrambling over to dial Cynthia's number. Tony sat at his desk, allowing the rest of us to crowd around him. We waited for her to pick up.

"Director Shepherd's office." She answered, her voice sounding distracted.

"Cynthia, we need a favor. What is Gibbs here for?" Tony quickly asked.

"How should I know that?" Cynthia questioned.

"How about listening in by the door or speakerphone?" I suggested.

"No I don't eavesdrop on the Director's conversations." She quickly countered. We all rolled our eyes.

"Come on Cynthia, don't tell me you don't eavesdrop. Every assistant eavesdrops." Tony insisted.

"He's coming." Ziva warned, her eyes catching sight of Gibbs. Tony quickly hung up and we all tried to act inconspicuous.

"Hey Gibbs, just visiting the neighborhood or…taking your desk back…" Tony asked, but was ignored as Gibbs went right past us without a word. Tony gestured for the team to join him on the other end of the bullpen. Lee stood but he waved for her to stay put. We all eyed Gibbs as the man silently sat at the spare desk and began writing on the board beside it, taking a call on his cell. This was weird, even for Gibbs.

"Ok I've got an idea, maybe he lost his memory again and forgot he quit his job." Tony suggested, the four of us still staring at Gibbs.

"Wouldn't he be sitting at his old desk then?" McGee countered.

"If he wanted us to know what he was doing, he would have told us." Ziva pointed out.

"Oh yea because he would never expect us to figure it out for ourselves." Tony whispered sarcastically, reminding her off all the times Gibbs wanted us to do just that. Gibbs hardly told us anything flat out. Before she could retort the Director made her presence known.

"Gibbs is back for temporary reassignment. The Paulson case." She briefly explained, heading into the office are. We followed after her as our powwow was apparently broken up.

"Paulson?" Ziva inquired.

"Petty officer Dereck Paulson knocked out a bank. Killed two of his accomplices, the money was never found." I quickly told her, leading her over to my desk where I quickly pulled up the files. Guess we had to get reacquainted with this case, and Ziva had more to catch up on than we did.

...

 **3rd Person POV:**

Abby was down in her lab, reading over some reports for the Paulson case while holding a skull sucker in her mouth. Her picture of Gibbs was still plastered all over every screen in the lab.

"Anything good?" Gibbs asked standing next to her.

"Yea, it's just some jail appeal from the guy. He really knows his forensics." Abby told him before freezing as the Caf-pow was set down next to her. She slowly looked over and beamed at him, launching herself at him in a hug.

"I knew it! I knew it!" she cheered. Breaking out of the hug she went over and took down the photos.

"Won't need these anymore now that you're actually here." She told him with a grin.

"I knew you'd come back." Abby insisted, hugging him once again.

"I'm not back." Gibbs told her gently.

"Of course you're back, I can feel your badge." Abby rolled her eyes fondly. She quickly pulled away, eying him.

"That is your badge, right?" He gave her a deadpan stare and pulled it out of his pocket to show her.

"You are back." Abby affirmed with a nod.

"The reinstatement is only temporary Abbs. Until I can find Paulson." He explained, stepping aside to look over her evidence. Abby pursed her lips, very unhappy with that explanation.

"We'll see about that." She muttered and quickly tapped on the keys to bring the pictures back up.

"So what can I do for you temporarily reinstated Agent Gibbs?" she inquired.

"Can you test the contents of Paulson's cell." Gibbs requested.

"What am I looking for? Oh right, anything to help you find him." she answered her own question.

"I want to know what he was up to before he escaped." Gibbs confirmed.

"Unless the four of you have any other suggestions?" Gibbs asked, looking straight at the security camera that he knew the others would be watching.

...

Upstairs Tony, Claire, Ziva, and McGee all glanced at one another in shock. How did he know? Tony winced and clicked the mute off so he could talk.

"Hey..we..we were just eavesdropping like little girls but we do have suggestions." Tony began, snapping his fingers at McGee. Gibbs grinned in amusement, causing them to shrink in embarrassment at being caught, not that he could see them.

"The prison records showed that only one person ever visited Paulson in jail." Ziva began.

"Mickey Stokes, 72, former navy sailor." Claire fist bumped Tony, glad they had the info ready to go. That would have been even more embarrassing.

"And since Paulson has no family, we can assume that he'll try to contact Mickey." McGee tacked on.

"And I have an address." Tony finished triumphantly.

"Tony, Ziva, Clarie you're with me…McGee.."

"McGee..stay here and.."

"Help Abby." The two men clumsily overlapped their sentences. Tony clenched his jaw and glanced at the screen.

"Process Paulson's belongings." Tony muttered once it went silent again, gaining back his control. He was back to this tug-o-war game with Gibbs over leadership once again.

"And gargle this, before the rest of us go snow-blind." Gibbs quipped, holding up Abby's Caf-pow. McGee frowned, a bit put out at the suggestion. Claire snickered, patting the man fondly on the back before following the group down to the car garage.

...

Tony drove the car to Mickey Stokes' house, Claire riding passenger and Gibbs in the back with Ziva which was odd for all of them.

"Gibbs seemed awfully quiet in the car." Tony pointed out, eyeing the older man as he hustled up to the door without them.

"It's not like you were giving him a chance to talk Tony." Ziva quipped. Tony shot her an offended look.

"Are you nervous he's going to want his old job back?" she inquired, staring at him intently.

"No, I was just bringing him up to speed on the latest protocols." Tony defended.

"What took you hotshots so long? He's been waiting over an hour." An old man announced as he opened the door for the agents. Instantly all four pulled out their guns and rushed the house.

"I'll take the back." Claire murmured, dashing towards the backside of the house.

"Hey, shoes off!" the man protested, frowning as the rest of them searched his house. After a series of clears they all came back to talk to the man.

"Where is he?" Gibbs asked.

"Well I never said he was here." Mickey Stokes pointed out, handing Gibbs the phone from the pocket of his bathrobe.

"Gibbs." He answered.

"I wasn't expecting to hear your voice, I heard you quit." Paulson mused on the other line.

"Retired." Gibbs corrected.

"At your age? That's quitting" the man corrected.

"How about you turn yourself in and you can tell me about this in person." Gibbs suggested.

"Turn myself in for what? I'm an innocent man." He retorted. Tony gestured down to the set of handcuffs that were broken on the table. He glanced around with a frown, wondering where Claire went off to. It wasn't a large house and she had yet to return.

"Try broken record." Gibbs suggested.

"So, you're not going to reopen my case?" Paulson asked.

"We both know what I'll find if I do. So why don't you tell me what you really want." Gibbs told him.

"I already have it agent Gibbs. Oh, and tell your agent sorry for me." Paulson answered smugly before hanging up the phone. Gibbs lowered the phone as he stared out the screen door.

"So, what does he really want?" Tony inquired.

"Our car." Gibbs pointed out sourly, staring at the vacant curbside. He turned and glanced around, taking mental note of his team.

"Where's Claire?" he asked in concern. Why would Paulson ask him to apologize? He assumed it was for Tony at first but now that they were missing one… At the tone of Gibb's voice, Tony quickly took off towards the backdoor. Making his way outside, Gibbs following after, they heard the sounds of muffled cursing from some wooded area a few yards back.

"Claire?" Tony called, increasing his speed. Tearing through some bushes, he found her leaning against a tree as she rubbed at her eyes furiously.

"Son of a bitch!" she growled in pain, tears leaking out. Tony frowned in concern and hastily went up to her, grabbing her shoulders as he tried to figure out what was wrong.

"You alright, what did he do?" Gibbs asked standing nearby as Tony had her covered.

"That asshole threw a mess of sand into my eyes once I had him pinned. Can't see a damn thing!" she growled. Tony quirked his lips at her cursing and gently pried her hands away from her eyes. She grimaced, clenching her eyes shut reflexively as tears continued to flow. She flinched when Tony slowly tried to lift one of her eyelids to inspect the damage. Her eyes refused to open in reflex and more tears continued to flow.

"We're gonna have to flush that out." Tony murmured, already guiding her towards the house. Gibbs watched them with a minute grin, but Tony was too preoccupied to notice. Claire continued muttered obscenities and threats under her breath as they maneuvered her back to the house. Tony bit his lip, trying not to snicker at some of the things she was saying.

"That was so cheap and unfair. Who throws sand anymore?! Please tell me that you grabbed him." she whined, managing to open her eye for a second to look at Tony.

"Sorry he slipped off with the car." Gibbs told her, sympathetically. Claire pouted.

"I hope I'm the one who grabs him then…if he's gonna fight dirty I will be more than happy to oblige." She growled irritably. Tony winced, glad he wasn't going to be on the receiving end of the inevitable beatdown. Gibbs chuckled, opening up the door for them to walk through.

...

 **Tony's POV:**

Ziva started taking photos in the den where Paulson's stuff was. We lost the car but there was still some things we had brought with us to the house.

"They appear to be close." She mused, snapping a newspaper clipping of the Mickey and Paulson together.

"They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach." I commented. Ziva turned taking a picture of me by surprise. I blinked dazedly as the flash messed with my eyes.

"Meals on wheels. Looks like Paulson was a volunteer." I explained for her. She frowned in confusion, mulling the idea over in her head.

"He volunteered to put…meals on wheels?" she asked, frowning at the phrase. I continued sifting through Paulson's clothes and looked at her with a wry smile.

"They bring food to the elderly, Ziva." I elaborated. She nodded, snapping another photo of me. I sputtered in surprise as once more the flash effected my vision.

"We already have one half blind agent, we don't need another one." I growled in displeasure.

"Shut up Tony." Claire called from where she was with Gibbs, talking to Mickey. I smiled teasingly at her. She narrowed her red eyes at me before getting back to her task.

...

In the sitting room Gibbs was leading the interview with Mickey while Claire sat in, seeing as her usually keen eyesight was of no use right now.

"Of course, I helped him. Dereck was like a son to me. I was the closest thing he had to family. What would you do if it was your kid in trouble?" Stokes inquired. Before Gibbs could answer agent Fornell, who was the man instigator in going after Paulson, made his presence known.

"I would tell him to give himself up, before he got hurt." He answered.

"Well I'm glad you ain't my old man Fornell. Shoes off." Mickey ordered sternly. Fornell frowned and looked down to see Gibbs with sock clad feet. He glanced over to the side and saw another three pairs of shoes by the door.

"Well I certainly wouldn't let him steal my car." Fornell pointed out to Gibbs, reluctantly slipping off his shoes.

"I didn't Fornell, it was DiNozzo's car." Gibbs pointed out, the two men looking to me. I frowned sourly at the reminder before taking the bag of clothes out to Fornells car. Sure, now he acknowledges that I was in charge.

...

 **3rd Person POV:**

"He just wants you to reopen his case. You've been reading my letters the last 4 years. You, bozos got the wrong guy." Mickey insisted.

"He took advantage of you Mickey. He only brought you food because it was close the bank he was casing." Fornell told the man.

"You wasted your life savings defending the wrong guy." Gibbs added.

"Hey not my computer! I got an online date tonight." Mickey hopped up in protest as Ziva carried it out. Mickey sighed, turning back to the older agents.

"Where is he Mickey?" Fornell asked.

"He doesn't know." Gibbs whispered, standing up next to Fornell. Gibbs gestured for Claire to follow as he lead the way into the kitchen, Fornell right behind them.

"You sure? Wanna arrest him for aiding and embedding?" Fornell suggested. Tony joined them in the room, standing by Claire as they listened.

"Well he did shelter Paulson and gave him money." Claire imputed with a shrug.

"I say we use him as bait. Give Mickey a pass and put a man on him in case Paulson comes back?" tony suggested, becoming slightly nervous as the two men looked at him critically. Gibbs and Fornel shared a look and turned to Tony, crossing their arms indifferently.

"You're the boss." Gibbs told him. Tony grinned at him sardonically, pulling his cell out to answer a call. Hanging up shortly after, he sighed.

"DC metro just found our car a half mile from here. The only thing missing was my laptop." He informed them.

"And every file we had on Paulson." Gibbs added.

"I told ya, he just wants to work on his case." Mickey told the group with a grin, having walked over with Ziva.

"Except he's had all his case files since the trial." Fornell pointed out.

"Perhaps our files had something his didn't." Ziva suggested.

"They do." Claire confirmed, turning to Mickey, her arms crossed over her chest.

"A list of the witnesses who testified against him." Tony elaborated, staring at the man sternly. Mickey looked at them in surprise.

"He's not a threat to anyone. He's on the run and unarmed." he defended.

"Do you keep any weapons in the house?" Ziva asked.

"Great, now you're going to pin another crime on him?" Mickey asked in disbelief. Ziva raised her brows, staring him down pointedly. The man sighed in resignation.

"Just my old Colt." He admitted.

"Where is it?" Gibbs asked him. Tony followed the man to the box where he kept his weapon. Tony and Ziva watched as Mickey opened the case to reveal that it was empty.

...

Back at the lab, Abby and Agent Lee were sorting through piles of evidence. Lee through the paperwork and Abby handled the more material objects.

"Paulson could be after any one of a dozen witnesses. I've never seen a convicted felon file so many appeals. It's an abuse of the system." Lee rambled, frowning as she skimmed over the files.

"Were all entitled to our day in court." Abby mused.

"Not according to Agent Gibbs. I've been going over his case files, he seems to prefer a more….biblical approach to things. If you ask me the agencies better off without him." Lee commented. Abby slammed the bag of clothes down on the desk. Agent Lee jumped and turned to see Abby glaring down at her as she towered over the small agent, especially in her platform shoes.

"I like you Agent Lee, so I'm gonna pretend like you didn't say that. NCIS is lucky to have Gibbs back." Abby told her sternly.

"Except he's not staying." Lee pointed out quietly.

"You do realize…."

"That you can kill me without leaving any forensic evidence behind? Yea, you mentioned that." Lee nodded.

"Good then that's settled. He has to….right Gibbs?" Abby frowned sadly, looking over at the man who had barely made it through the door. Coffee in one hand and a Caf-pow in the other. Abby's sly smile dropped when he didn't say anything. She rolled her eyes, turning back to bring up his photo on her screens once again. She didn't smile as he dropped off her signature drink.

"What have you got for me Abby?" Gibbs asked her quietly.

"I found Paulson's fingerprints on the gun case and on Mickey's computer." Abby told him, leading him to the computer that had been set up once more.

"And he also visited over a dozen people search sites. We think he was looking for someone." Lee chimed in, looking over her shoulder.

"Yea I gathered." Gibbs deadpanned.

"No names yet but we're using the FBI's mainframe to decrypt the search log." Abby explained to him. Just as she finished, a small pop up window appeared telling her that it was completed.

"Oh, you always did have really good timing." She mused solemnly. As she leaned down to type in some codes a small video screen with an older lady popped up.

"Mickey? Where the hell is Mickey you tramp?" the woman growled.

"Mickey isn't here." Abby told her sternly. Shaking her head, she quickly set about to take her off.

"It's Mickey's online playmate. She keeps tunneling through my firewall." Abby sighed. As the video cut off, a list of search titles came up.

"Russel Nash." Gibbs read off.

"Apparently he's…"

"The only accomplice Paulson didn't kill." Gibbs finished for lee as she opened up a file.

"Well he should have. Nash coped a plea and testified against Paulson. Paulson got life and Nash walked in 18 months. Skipped out on his parole, hasn't been seen since." Lee read off for them, pursing her lips.

"Well since the money was never found, maybe Paulson is looking for Nash because he thinks Nash has the money." Abby suggested.

"Or Paulson is looking for something a little more….biblical." Gibbs pointed out, looking down over at Lee.

...

Up in the bullpen Ziva was taking a phone call while McGee was sitting at his desk, sipping on a caf-pow while listening to something with his headphones. Claire was off at her desk, bringing up some files regarding the Paulson case.

"Thank you I'll let agent Gibbs know, and I'll see you Saturday." Ziva hung up with a grin, causing Claire to glance over at her curiously but didn't comment. McGee promptly tore off the headphones.

"Hey, was the FBI able to warn all the witnesses?" he asked the girls.

"All except for one." Ziva nodded. Claire looked over and her lips quirked in amusement at how McGee was sucking down the caffeinated drink with gusto.

"McGee, how many of those have you gone through?" she inquired watching as he sucked down some more of the drink. McGee frowned, setting it on his desk roughly.

"This is my fourth, how do they look?" he asked, sending her a toothy smile. Claire winced and Ziva hummed a groan. It wasn't any dimmer than before.

"Maybe you should switch to blueberries." Claire suggested. McGee nodded and put the straw back in his mouth.

"Anything good on our tip hotline?" Ziva inquired, referring to what he had previously been listening to.

"Is there ever? Half our callers don't know what a tip is." McGee muttered. Claire laughed, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Sometimes a tip hotline did more harm than help. Unknown to them Tony's phone was on speaker.

...

The man himself was hiding behind the stairs, listening to the group's conversation on his cell.

"When do you think he's coming back?" Tony heard him ask. He bit his lip, just knowing this was going to pop up sooner or later.

"Who's coming back?" Claire asked. He heard the distinct sound of Ziva scoffing.

"Gibbs" McGee told Claire pointedly.

"He isn't coming back. Weren't you listening earlier. He said it was temporary." Claire explained.

"No not Gibbs, I think it's just a matter of time." McGee countered.

"I don't know but let's just say that I'm getting sick of the…campfires." Ziva groaned. Tony narrowed his eyes in annoyance. She would be the one to whine about that.

"Well get used to them. I think it's a pretty good idea." Claire defended. Tony grinned internally, just imagining the glare Claire was leveling Ziva with.

"It's not something we do. It shouldn't be forced upon us just because Tony is in charge." Ziva grumbled.

"Hey, Gibbs isn't here so get over it. Tony is the boss now, so we follow orders. It doesn't matter what your personal preference is." Claire shot back icily.

"Why are you always taking Tony's side in these discussions?" McGee inquired curiously.

"Why aren't you?" Claire countered instantly. Tony grinned fondly. At least someone was covering his back while he was absent. Gibbs swiftly made his way around the corner after visiting Abby and paused when he spotted Tony with a smile on his face.

"Taking a little break DiNozzo?" Gibbs inquired, coming to stand behind him.

"I think you know exactly what him doing….Agent Gibbs." Tony whispered knowingly. After hearing all he needed to, Tony hung up his cell.

"Showtime." He muttered, striding over to the work area.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

"Well regarding the whole camp fire thing, I wouldn't let tony hear you say that." McGee pointed out, looking to Ziva. I had made him uncomfortable when calling him out on his lack of defense for Tony. Despite what the two said, they were becoming friends and McGee needed to uphold his end of that. Tony would defend him in a second.

"Don't let Tony hear what, Agent McGee?" Tony asked, making his way past him to his own desk.

"I was just telling him that the FBI was able to…."

"Warn all the witnesses from Paulson's trial except for one?" Tony finished for Ziva with a cocky grin. Ziva stared at him in shock, as did I.

"That's right…the only one they couldn't find was.."

"Russel Nash." Gibbs finished as he suddenly appeared by the cubicle wall. We all turned to him in surprise. That was just freaky.

"I have much to learn still, master." Tony grinned over at the older man. Gibbs smirked in amusement. Obviously, that was something between the two of them.

"Campfire!" Tony announced. I grinned deviously as Ziva rolled her eyes in annoyance. McGee and I quickly raced our rolling chairs to the front of Tony's desk with a grin. I cheered triumphantly as I was the first to arrive. Tony grinned in amusement at our little competition that we had developed ever since the Campfire sessions started. We all waited for Ziva to make her way over, pushing her chair instead.

"There you go. It's sort of a new thing I do. I find it focuses the group better than…you know just shouting across the bullpen." Tony explained for Gibbs, setting up his little recorder on the desk. Gibbs stared at him silently.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that." Tony muttered quickly before spinning around and pulling up files onto the big screen.

"Let's focus on Russel Nash." He began.

"The inside man."

"He worked for the bank that Paulson knocked over."

"Our only missing witness." Ziva, McGee, and I bounced between one another, Tony opening and shutting his mouth as he couldn't get in a word.

"According to Abby he's the one Paulson's after." Gibbs chimed in from the spare desk where he propped his feet up and was texting on his cell.

"We find Nash.."

"We find Paulson." McGee and Ziva tag teamed once again. I hid a laugh behind my hand as Tony sighed in exasperation at not getting a chance to contribute. Poor baby. He slowly lifted the recorder to his mouth.

"Campfire over." He muttered, clicking it off. Tony glared good naturedly at me as I bit my lip to keep from laughing at him.


	4. Chapter 4

[Escaped: 2] 

**...**

 **Sorry about the late update. School has been insane so I do what I can. Hope ya'll like this one...I added some extra bits that I hope you enjoy ;)**

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

The team minus Gibbs were all huddled around McGee's desk. Having heard something interesting on their tip hotline they collectively decided Gibbs should hear it.

"Uh huh" Gibbs answered. Claire and Tony shared a hesitant glance. It sounded like they had interrupted something but too late now.

"No word on the Russel Nash's BOLO but we got something off the tip hotline on Paulson." Tony answered looking down at the speakerphone.

"What?" Gibbs asked.

"Paulson." McGee answered, pulling up the recording on his computer.

 **"Hey Jethro. So, you've got a tip hotline to find me but nothing on my original case. Not cool, we're gonna have to do something about that. But for now, I was just calling to say, thanks for the car. I left you a token of my appreciation in return. I'm sure you'll find it soon. Oh…and again to the lady agent. Sorry about the eyes."** Paulson's smug voice rang over the speakers. Tony glowered at the voice when mentioning the car and Claire. Meanwhile McGee was busy analyzing the background sounds in the message.

"He called his own tip hotline" Tony muttered sourly. Claire shot him a knowing grin.

"You're starting to like this guy aren't you?" she pointed out. Tony scoffed before looking down at the desk sheepishly.

"Yeah kinda." Tony reluctantly admitted.

"We're getting an address from the back trace now." Ziva informed, glancing at the screen just as a map popped up.

"We got it. It's in the city…4242.."

"Adams Boulevard?" Gibbs finished for him. All four of them stared down at the phone dubiously.

"You've been there before boss?" Tony asked in confusion.

"Yea, that's where Paulson killed his two accomplices." Gibbs told them before hanging up.

"Probably should have known that." Claire muttered after a beat of silence.

...

The team sped into the back alleys, scanning the buildings for the rundown apartment that the trace led them to. Gibbs hopped out of the second car, followed by McGee, Claire, and Michelle Lee.

"Is agent Gibbs aware that a warrant hasn't officially come through yet?" Lee muttered aloud as they rushed behind the team.

"Yea I think he got it about the fifth time you told him Lee." McGee snarked tiredly.

"Word of advice, if you want Gibbs to like you don't correct him." Claire told her pointedly. Fornell, Tony and Ziva joined them in front of the lead car as they gathered up.

"My team's out front, any idea what his game is this time?" Fornell inquired.

"No idea." Gibbs answered.

"Ok, McGee, Ziva take the fire escape. Lee…"

"Watch the cars." Gibbs finished for Tony as the group took off without her. Tony led the way through the rundown apartment building with Gibbs, Fornell, and Claire on his tail. A few times the residents popped out of their rooms and Tony quickly gestured for them to get back inside. Fornell and Gibbs hid up in the stairwell as they cornered the door. Claire and Tony each taking a side while Fornell and Gibbs watched the hall from where thy came.

"I bet you would like to be back having a nice drink at the cantina right about now." Fornell mused.

"The thought had crossed my mind."

"Mine too." The men joked dryly. Tony nodded for Gibbs to slide past him and Fornell exited dashing after him. Claire reoriented herself backing up next to Tony as she watched the hall.

"Any guesses on what Paulson's token of appreciation might be?" Tony inquired.

"Let's hope it's not Russel Nash's head on a stick." She muttered. Tony quickly and silently maneuvered over to grab the door handle. On Gibb's nod he quickly opened it, just as Claire shouted in warning. They both aimed their guns inside, Tony kneeling while Claire stood. Inside was a mock crime scene from Paulson's case. Red string across the room, indicating bullet paths. Photos of the clutter around the room, placed in the exact spots they had been found. Even cutouts of the bodies taped in the spots form the photos. Sporadically they noticed sticky notes with either numbers or questions all about the room.

"Well at least it's not Nash." Claire muttered under her breath. Tony send her a deadpan stare.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Due to Paulson forcing up to reopen his case with the stunt back at the apartment, we were all pulling out old files to get read up on the details. Director Shepherd strode into the middle of the bullpen, all of us looking over at her.

"The public defender who represented Paulson is out on maternity leave." She informed Tony.

"The Prosecutor?" he inquired.

"Naval Reservist. Deployed to Iraq 3 years ago." Ziva explained, making her way over to his desk along with the rest of us.

"Killed by an IED last month." McGee tagged on.

"Unless we can find someone familiar with the Paulson case, it will take us days just to catch up to speed. Much less anticipate Paulson's next move." Lee commented. Well thank you for pointing out the obvious.

"She's right, its gonna take way too much time just to catch up." I reluctantly agreed. The elevator dinged, getting Jenny's attention.

"Relax, Gibbs brought in Mickey Stokes. No one knows Paulson better than him." she pointed out. We watched silently as the two older man whisked right past the bullpen towards the back elevators.

"Is he even a lawyer?" Lee scrutinized looking over at Mickey. The man had been fighting for Paulson he knew the case inside and out, he didn't have to be a lawyer.

"Well we can't all be lawyers agent Lee." Tony quipped. Once Gibbs was out of sight Tony sighed, running a hand down his face tiredly. With all the power conflict between him and Gibbs on top of the actual case, I knew he was getting frustrated.

"Lee go get a white board so we can brainstorm. Everyone else, campfire. Director feel free to join if you'd like." Tony announced. Like usual we all went for our chairs, rolling them up around Tony's desk. Director Shepherd made herself comfortable at Lee's desk, kicking her feet up on it. Tony set up his recorder on the desk before starting the session.

"So, for sake of argument let's just say that Paulson was framed." he began, suggesting the angle we were working with.

"That makes Russel Nash your prime suspect." Director Shepherd cut in from behind us.

"Exactly Director." Tony nodded, he paused and looked over behind us. Glancing over I spotted Gibbs standing behind the cubicle wall, staring at us warily.

"Hey Gibbs." I greeted, shooting the others a curious glance.

"Why don't you come over and uh, join us for a little campfire." Tony invited. Gibbs glanced over at us warily, shuffling out of the way when Lee pulled the board towards the desk. He stood and walked right past our group, heading to the elevators on the other end of the room. So much for joining.

"Where's he going?" Lee inquired.

"Basement."

"Fornell"

"Whiskey."

"Boat" The four of us listed off without missing a beat. Wow scary how we knew where Gibbs would hide away to.

"Not tonight, his real-estate agent is fumigating his house. Apparently, Gibbs got termites." Jenny countered with a grin.

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

The next morning the team had found a possible connection to Nash through his old roommate Gary Silverman. He just so happened to also work at a tat shop, that may or may not explain the fake tattoo Nash could have used to impersonate Paulson in the robbery. As Gibbs would say, there is no such thing as coincidences.

Claire bit her lip to bite back a grin as she as Tony found himself trying to communicate with a street flipper. And Gary was very into his job. She stood nearby but let him take the lead on actually getting close to the man. Tony dodged the giant spinning arrow sign that Gary was flailing around as he tried to get a step closer to have an actual conversation.

"No, no, no, no. Be careful Gary." Tony scolded, ducking out of the way.

"I told you, you've got to stand 5 steps back for insurance reasons." Gary told him, still flipping the sign and dancing around in a ridiculous cell phone onesie.

"You can get insurance to be a flipper?" Claire asked in confusion from the sidelines.

"Human Directional." Gary countered sternly, pointing with his arrow for emphasis.

"Cause that's so much better." she told him with a sarcastic grin.

"You're a sign Gary." Tony deadpanned.

"Yea, I'm the future. You know what man I brought in an extra 10 grand last year. And in a few years, this could be an Olympic sport right?" Gary countered, showing off his 'moves' while Tony and Claire watched blankly.

"You've got to stop doing that. Stop it." Tony growled in annoyance as he tried to talk to the man but the sign was becoming a hazard.

"Am I under arrest?"

"No." Tony grunted.

"Unfortunately." Claire muttered under her breath.

"Then no man, I work by the hour." Gary countered. Tony looked back at Claire with wide eyes as the man continued to flip. She threw her hands up and shrugged, so he knew what he had to do. Fed up, Tony reached out and grabed the sign, smiling tightly at the man.

"Gary, I can think of a lot of ways to arrest you. A lot of them." he threatened irritably.

"Alright well what else is there to say? Yea I worked at the tat shop. Yes, I lived with Nash. No, I don't know where he is. And I don't know nothing about no bank robbery. That all went down after he moved out. Alright?" Gary spat out quickly, tugging his arrow away from Tony who pursed his lips.

"Good luck in Beijing in '08 Gary." Tony told him sarcastically as he lead Claire back to the car where Ziva and Gibbs were waiting.

"You think he took the bait?" Tony asked. Claire subtly turned her head to look over his shoulder. She smiled, spotting Gary pull out his cell.

"Well he had his phone out now. So, I guess we will see won't we?" she hummed. Tony opened the door for her and she slid in, Tony following after.

"So? How'd it go?" Ziva inquired once they hopped into the backseat.

"I'll tell you in 20 seconds." Tony sighed, quickly dialing Abby.

"He's already making a call." Abby told him, not even waiting for the request.

"Putting it on speaker." McGee added from back at the lab.

 **"Hey you got Nash just leave a message after the beep."** The message system recited.

"I'd say that went well." Claire pointed out with a grin as they drove off.

 **"Hey Nash, its Gary S. I know you told me to call you there never man but I had some feds here and they were asking questions about that job. At least I think they were feds, I never heard of no NC..CSI."** Gary rattled on.

"Got it 82 west prat street. Apartment 12" Abby told the team as they narrowed down the call.

"I know it, 40 miles north of here." Tony cut in, spurring Gibbs to speed onward.

...

Arriving at the apartment complex the four of them made their way towards the particular building at the end of the quad.

"Not bad for rush hour." Ziva mused.

"Only you could make it 40 miles in 20 minutes boss." Tony added with a chuckle. As they made their way over, a crowd of people had gathered which was never a good sign.

"Somethings wrong." Tony muttered.

"Maybe Paulson beat us here and found out the hard way that Nash wasn't willing to change his testimony." Claire imputed. The four of them pushed their way to the front, flashing their badges at the cops who let them by. A mangled man was lying on his stomach with bullet holes in his back and blood around his head. Tony knelt down and compared the face with a photo of Nash.

"It's Nash." He told them, looking up towards the balcony where he must have fallen from.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Down in autopsy, Tony was taking notes while Ducky was setting Nash's body back into the proper position on the table. Apparently, the man was much more mangled than I originally thought. It was a bit unnerving to listen to and see.

"The end is never pleasant. And this man doubly so." Ducky mused as he grunted in effort, pushing the man's shoulder back down with a series of cracks. Tony winced and rolled his shoulders and shuddered while I suppressed a disgusted shiver. This is why I don't work down here. I'd rather be shooting bad guys than listening to them get snapped and cracked back in place.

"At least he had a great deal on the way down." I muttered, glancing away from the body. Ducky righted the man's head and neck, Tony rolling his jaw reflexively.

"Well I seriously doubt it seeing as his jaw was broken, along with 6 of his fingers, as well as his knee." Ducky listed off as he and Palmer continued to prod for shattered bones.

"He had all this before he fell." Ducky informed. Gibbs was pacing around the table in a wide circle as they worked. He was still acting all pent up, and now that I thought about it he had been on edge ever since he was added on to this case. Returning to work did not suit him well.

"Someone beat him first." Gibbs suggested, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"More like he was interrogated. This damage is too methodical, too calculated to be a simple beating. Whoever did this was after information and when he got it he repaid our victim with these." Ducky turned and handed Gibbs the slugs from Nash's back.

"Guess we can rule out suicide." Tony pointed out. He turned slightly and grinned at how I still had yet to look over at the body. I glared but couldn't stop my lips from quirking just a little bit and stuck my tongue out at him.

"Yes, unless Mr. Nash was able to shoot himself in the back three times in a row." Ducky grunted as he jerked the lower leg back around. Tony and I cringed at the noise. It just gets worse every time.

"Do we have to do this now?" I asked waving my hand in the general direction as another shudder shot through me.

"The slugs are Winchester hollow point! Winchester hollow point!" Abby chanted form the videophone in Ducky's lab. However, it was a doll version of Abby that was pressed up against the screen. Gibbs glanced over from where he was analyzing the slugs with his… glasses on. Gibbs started wearing glasses now?

"Hey Gibbs! Gibbs! Cool huh?" she asked excitedly, replacing the doll with herself. As Gibbs walked over closer to the small screen she continued her explanation.

"They were fired from the Colt that Baltimore PD found near the scene." She elaborated. Tony and I made our way over to join them, me dashing over in the lead. I glared at the soft chuckling behind me, throwing an elbow into Tony's gut.

"Abs did you run the serial number?" Gibbs asked.

"It's the same gun that Paulson took from Mickey Stokes' house. He tried to wipe it but I found a partial print." She informed us proudly.

"So, the gentleman that asked us to prove his innocence just killed the one man who could exonerate him." Ducky asked in confusion.

"Nash didn't frame Paulson, they were partners until Nash double crossed him." Tony suggested. The older men looked to him thoughtfully.

"Our ex-petty officer wasn't looking to clear himself, he was looking for the money." Ducky realized.

"And he used us to take him straight to the bank, smart kid." Abby added, swinging her doll around in emphasis.

"If your gut says Paulson is innocent then maybe were missing something." I told Gibbs.

"The only thing that I am missing right now is happy hour at Carlos's cantina." Gibbs quipped tiredly. The two watched him storm out in frustration. Something wasn't sitting right and I know that Gibbs had the answer. We just needed him to think of it. I quickly dashed after him, sliding into the elevator just before the doors closed. Gibbs glared at me in his typical silent manor.

"Ok I know it's been a while but we need you to figure this out. Something's wrong and I know you know what so just spit it out." I told him quickly. He said nothing but silently stewed, rubbing his face in frustration. Rolling my eyes, I reached over and turned the elevator off.

"Don't get me fired for this." I muttered under my breath. Swallowing my fear I reached up and slapped him on the back of the head. Gibbs whipped his head around to look at me and I swear my heart stopped. Oh god, oh god I'm so dead.

"You're gonna head slap me now, aren't you?" I winced, trying to hide in the corner. Gibbs glared and raised his hand but paused, his eyes widening.

"You knew. You knew what I would do before I did it." He muttered frantically.

"What?" Gibbs reached beside me and flicked the elevator back on before pounding on the button to take us to Abby's lab. Obviously, he wasn't about to answer so I just stood there quietly, hoping I might have helped at least a little bit. Once the doors opened Gibbs made his way to the lab, and I had nothing else to do but follow behind him.

...

"Don't let Gibbs leave the building. I already told you why Tom!" Abby ranted on the phone as she paced.

"Abby." Gibbs called, waking into the lab. Her eyes lit up.

"Never mind false alarm." She chirped hanging up the phone.

"Was that Tom from security?" I asked. Abby flailed her hands dismissively.

"Doesn't matter." She muttered rushing over to hug Gibbs, one of her hands fumbling for his. I watched, completely lost as she pretzeled her arms around him.

"Gibbs thank god. I was so sure you'd be halfway to Mexico right now." She sighed in relief. Pulling away from a confused Gibbs she held up their handcuffed hands. Ah….now that makes more sense.

"Abby!" Gibbs shouted incredulously, being dragged over to the computers behind her.

"We're going to figure this out Gibbs we always do." She insisted. Turning towards him she smiled slightly at the familiar expression his face.

"You've already figured it out." she realized.

"Really?" I asked, looking to him hopefully.

"No but your going to." Gibbs informed Abby. She frowned in confusion, looking to me. I shrugged, just as lost as her.

"I wanna know how Paulson knows." Gibbs told her.

"Knows what?" I asked.

"Everything, everything that we seem to." Gibbs elaborated. Oh….wow why didn't I think of that before? Abby grinned and hugged him. However, when she wrapped her arms around his neck, Gibbs' own arm was bent up and backwards, causing him to yelp in discomfort.

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

Up in the bullpen was another campfire. Now that Nash was gone, they had a whole new case to work with.

"Russel Nash is hiding the money from the bank job is somewhere." Tony began.

"Paulson gets to it before us" McGee continued.

"And he's gone for good." Ziva finished the thought.

"So, where is it?" Tony asked no one in particular.

"Nash was using an assumed name; all transactions were cash only." Ziva imputed.

"It's not in a bank, storage maybe." McGee suggested.

"A third party could be holding it." Ziva added.

"I'll look at properties under an alias, maybe he stashed it in a mattress somewhere. Campfire over." Tony finished recording the session. As everyone moved their seats back Ziva glanced around noticing some people absent.

"Where's Gibbs?" she asked.

"I don't know. Claire went after him but I haven't heard from either one." Tony whispered.

"Anything wrong?" she pursed her lips, whipping around on him. Tony frowned at her purposeful lack of tact when she asked loudly.

"Well actually yea, Ziva, there's quite a lot wrong. Aside from McGee's teeth." Tony pointed out. McGee grinned tightly at the remark.

"A dead man who shouldn't be dead, an innocent man who isn't really innocent and a trail that is running cold because our perp has managed to stay one step ahead of us since this whole thing started." Tony ranted.

"You just noticing that now DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, wallking right over to his desk. He snatched the recorder and brought Tony's desk lamp over the device.

"It's always kinda been a theme." Tony retorted with a shrug. Claire came over behind the desk and watched Gibbs turn the device over in his hand. Tony watched warily as Gibbs banged the recorder roughly on the desk before whipping out his knife.

"Careful that's kinda easy to.." he jumped in alarm when Gibbs roughly ripped into the device.

"..break…" he whispered, frowning at his wrecked toy. Claire patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"Sorry but I promise it's for a good cause." She assured him.

...

In interrogation was the man who made the bug that was placed in Tony's recorder. When Paulson had stolen the car, the bug was placed in the device so he had been able to learn everything from Tony's campfires. Claire was currently sitting across from the man, wanting nothing than to be somewhere else. Ever since they had brought him in, he had been reciting laws to her whether they were relevant or not.

"It is a crime for anyone acting under any color of the law to deprive any citizen of their rights." He pointed out.

"Title 18 US code." He shrugged with a smug air. Claire sighed tiredly.

"No one is depriving you of your rights. We are simply asking for a copy of the cypher you made." she droned.

"No one shall be compelled in a criminal case to be a witness against himself. That would be the 5th amendment" He recited again.

"No one has accused you of a crime either." She deadpanned.

"Then why did your goons confiscate my files?" he asked sourly. Claire resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Because you wouldn't tell us at the store. Which would have solved all of our problems hours ago." She answered, muttering under her breath on the last part.

...

In observation McGee scrunched his face up in offense.

"Goon?" he asked incredulously.

"I told you to stop hunching your shoulders" Tony pointed out, his phone pressed between his ear and shoulder as he wrote down notes.

"How do you know he wasn't talking about you?" McGee inquired.

"It's called a mirror, McGee." Tony deadpanned.

"No, I said every exit, not every other exit." Tony argued with the person on the other line. He paused listening to the other half of the conversation.

"For the same reason you don't floss every other tooth." Tony added in a 'duh' tone.

"Where's that cypher?" Gibbs asked, walking into the room.

"We had a little snafu boss….Gibbs." he amended. Tony continued his call while they watched.

...

"The federal code also states…" Claire quietly groaned and rubbed her temples.

"….That not only do I have the right to remain silent but to withhold any information I see fit." He man shot back haughtily.

"Why don't we compromise? You just give me the harmless information we asked for and then after you are free to exercise your right to silence." She suggested tightly.

...

"If this keeps up we may be forced to unleash agent Lee." Tony muttered to Gibbs. Gibbs frowned and swiftly made his way over to interrogation. When the door opened Claire and Gibbs locked eyes. He gestured for her to leave which she was more than willing to comply.

"Well this should be quick." McGee pointed out.

"It had better be quick we've got a fugitive on the run with a pretty big lead." Tony muttered. Suddenly his eyes widened in realization and his phone dropped into his hand.

"The Fugitive.." he gasped. McGee's eyes widened in alarm at another movie reference.

"I've been here all this time how could I have missed it?" Tony mused, placing his phone back into place. He paused as Claire entered, coming to stand beside McGee.

"Missed what?" she asked curiously, looking between the two.

"See Gibbs is clearly Tom Lee Jones, right? There's not arguing there. Which makes me Joe Panteliano, initially I was a little you know.." as Tony continued Claire leaned in to whisper in McGee's ear.

"What happened? We've been avoiding the word fugitive for the last 3 days?" she asked in dismay.

"He made the connection himself." McGee muttered sourly in explanation.

"Great." She groaned, feeling another headache coming on. They all watched as the man continued to talk and refuse to answer questions while Gibbs just sat there staring at him. Finally, after about 30 seconds of silence Gibbs leant forward.

"I've got this little girl who wants to go home to her dad and that's not gonna happen without your help….so?...please?" Gibbs quietly asked. Instantly Tony dropped his phone in shock.

"Did Gibbs just say?" McGee hummed in confirmation as they stared in shock. Claire remained silent, still unsure if she heard correctly. After a few more seconds of silence the man loosened up.

"What did you uh…what did you wanna know again?" he asked quietly, willing to help now. Claire threw her hands up in frustration. If she had known to pull the kid card they would have been done hours ago.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Outside the house we all double checked our vests and guns.

"Alright signal is strong, he's still inside the house." McGee informed us.

"You got eyes on the target Ziva?" Gibbs asked over the ear radio.

"I did, the suspect is in the house and he's not alone." She answered jogging over from her previous spot.

"Are you sure?" I asked. Who could be visiting this time of night?

"I heard Paulson's voice." Ziva shrugged. With that we headed towards the house, Gibbs silently sending Tony and Ziva off to the back while he, McGee and I took the front. We made our way to the porch area and McGee crouched near the door, using his equipment to see inside and hear the conversation.

"Let me give you some more money in case you need it." Mickey's voice was heard over our devices.

"In position boss." Tony muttered.

"And here, take this." Mickey added handing Paulson a gun.

"Gun." McGee relayed as he watched the shadows move.

"Move. Move." Gibbs ordered, spurring the team into action. We burst through the doors, guns at the ready. Paulson quickly snatched the handgun from Mickey and frantically began flicking it back and forth between us. Paulson swallowed and gripped the gun tighter as he looked at all of us nervously.

"Don't do it Dereck. We will shoot you" Tony warned, watching him intently from the kitchen area. Paulson didn't move but glanced between us nervously.

"Tony, McGee, Claire put your weapons down." Gibbs ordered. We all did so while Ziva kept eyes on Paulson who stared at Gibbs warily.

"I was wrong. I know you're innocent Petty Officer." Gibbs told him seriously as he put his gun away. Paulson's shoulders visibly relaxed.

"But you're not Mickey." I added turning to the man who was standing there quietly.

"DiNozzo." Gibbs called.

"Mickey Stokes you're under arrest for the murders of Russel Nash, his two accomplices in the Greater Virginia Bank robbery and last but not least….the Greater Virginia Bank robbery." Tony listed off, making his was over to cuff the man.

"Is your porch light on? First you wrongly accuse Dereck and now me?" Mickey asked Gibbs defensively. Paulson watched betrayal and confusion flitting across his face as he tried to decipher what we were talking about.

"We found the bug you planted in our forensic tech's lab." Tony elaborated. Dereck's eyes widened.

"We were almost as surprised as you look now when the man you bought the bug from pointed you out instead of Paulson." I chimed in. Tony showed him the picture we used with both men in it. Mickey Stokes was not who I expected.

"This is ridiculous. Do I look like I've got 5 million bucks laying around?" Mickey asked, gesturing to the run-down house we were all in.

"If he set me up, where's the money?" Paulson asked, glaring at Mickey.

"Yea, they don't know what they're talking about" the old man agreed.

"It's here." McGee answered from the other room. We turned to see him analyzing a couple pieces of furniture in the den.

"It's been here the while time." He told us, gently running his hand over the desk.

"This is a Rosewood Bureau flat desk. 19th century. That's $38,000." He pointed out turning to the cabinet beside it.

"First edition Huckleberry Fin, $20,000. And it looks like in the bedroom here you've got a Chip and Dale Mahogany case clock. That's six figures easy." McGee added, shooting Mickey a knowing look.

"Gibbs you don't collect this stuff on a navy pension." He added. Paulson's face screwed up in anger and he pointed the gun back at Mickey, instantly putting all of us back on alert.

"Whoa whoa!...Agent Gibbs?" Mickey asked, nervously looking at the gun barrel near his face.

"Don't talk to me I think he should shoot ya." Gibbs shrugged. Ziva was poised, still aiming at Paulson. Gibbs slowly walked over to look at Paulson as his eyes were trained on Mickey.

"Except he's never been a killer. And I don't think you're going to start now." Gibbs pointed out quietly. Paulson sighed and released his hold on the gun willingly as Gibbs gently took it out of his hands.

"And miss his trial? Not for the world." Dereck sneered at the man he had trusted.

"You're a real piece of work Mickey." Tony commented as he adjusted the cuffs on the man. As he was led out Ziva shot McGee a questioning look.

"Antiques roadshow." He answered he unspoken question. She nodded with a mildly impressed grin. I turned to Dereck who was still a bit thrown by the whole situation.

"Come on, you're gonna have to clear some stuff up." I informed, nudging him along. Dereck took notice of who I was and chuckled nervously.

"Sorry about the whole sand thing. You know you're eyes look really nice despite my antics." he apologized…I think.

"Yea you're still not off the hook." I pursed me lips. He nodded and headed out the door with the rest of us following behind.

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

Once everything had been put to rest for the night Tony and Claire met up back at her place for some down time. After they had eaten she was in the kitchen cleaning up the last of the dishes they had used. She paused, thinking about Abby's trip to the tattoo parlor. She had gone with the woman and was now thinking it was time to have some fun with her new souvenir. Abby would die when she heard the story the next morning.

"Hey Tony?" she called, setting the now dry plate aside. Claire grinned, hearing the television click off.

"Yea?" he asked, head peeking in the kitchen doorway. A curious smile slipped onto his face at the devious glint in her eyes.

"What?" he hummed, his interest now piqued.

"I've got a surprise for you." She grinned, leaning against the counter. Tony glanced around.

"Where?"

"You've got to find it." Tony's grin widened.

"Do I at least get a hint?" he inquired with a pout. Claire giggled and shrugged. Seeing that she wasn't going to say anything else he slowly walked into the room.

"Colder." His head whipped around, lip quirking.

"Ah this game." He mused, liking it more by the second. Walking towards the fridge he looked to her curiously.

"Colder. No pun intended." She grinned. Nodding thoughtfully, Tony turned back the other way.

"Warm….ish" Tony chuckled, speeding up a little at her encouragement. He made his way past her, scanning through the various cupboards. Claire tsked, getting his attention.

"You just got colder." She sighed sadly. Tony quirked his head curiously. He took a dramatic step closer towards her.

"Warmer." He grinned, having figured it out. Closing the distance between them he trapped her against the counter.

"Very hot." She hummed lowly. Tony leaned in to kiss her which she happily returned.

"You're close but there really is a surprise." She whispered as they pulled apart. His eyes lit up, now very intrigued.

"Show me." He demanded.

"What's the fun in that? You have to find it." Claire grinned. She leaned up and kissed him hard once more before dashing off when he was distracted. Tony blinked in surprise and chased after her into the bedroom. Tony slipped off his jacket, hoping this was going where he thought it was. He crawled up to lean over her, Claire lounging with her hands behind her head.

"Will I like this surprise?" he asked, trailing a finger up and down her arm.

"I hope so." She smiled, her eyes a bit tentative. Tony nodded, already knowing he would. He slowly slipped her shirt off, his eyes roaming over her skin.

"Nothing here." He hummed, kissing her gently along her collarbone.

"I think you still have some space unsearched." She whispered, enjoying the attention. Tony grinned wolfishly, sliding off her jeans. Instantly his eyes were drawn to the new ink.

"Is that a tattoo?" he asked, his fingers running gently over the small vine tattoo running along her hipbone.

"You like it?" she asked, leaning up on her elbows to look down at him. Tony grinned, pressing a kiss on the skin.

"Yea I really do. When did you get this?" he asked her with a grin.

"It's actually a henna. Abby was testing a theory and got some custom henna made. Thought I would try it before doing something permanent." she explained looking down at his hand still caressing her ink. Tony smiled, pulling himself back up to kiss her.

"I think you should. It's really hot." He told her. Claire rolled her eyes but smiled, pleased at his approval.

"Really?" she hummed.

"I like it very much. Why don't I show you how much I like it." He grinned, kissing her hard once more. Claire giggled, bringing her hand up into his hair.

"I think you're a bit overdressed for that." She teased. Tony smiled, settling in for a long night.

...

The next morning all four of the agents met at the elevator, talking about their weekends. Well at least parts of it as not everything was to be shared.

"You know you used to be a nice person McGee." Ziva quipped as the elevator opened and agents piled in and out. Tony greeted some others politely, grinning secretly as he was pushed against Claire in the tight space. Eventually they managed to squeeze out of the small cabin and headed towards the bullpen.

"I think being at Tony's desk is affecting your personality." She added as the four stepped out.

"For the better. McGee picks up a girl all by himself." Tony slapped the man proudly on the shoulder.

"Yea at a funeral." Ziva sneered.

"You didn't tell me that." Tony pursed his lips in surprise, dropping his hand.

"McGee." Claire gasped in surprise. The man shrugged with a sheepish grin.

"Well Tony was right. Because when women are vulnerable you get right in there." McGee recited while Tony beamed as he followed the hand motions that he always paired with it. They all froze, spotting Tony's junk was piled on his old desk. Slowly turning they looked to see Agent Lee gone and McGee's old desk in the same condition. Finally completing the circle, they spotted Lee holding her files awkwardly while Gibbs was casually sitting back in his old desk. He looked up at them revealing glasses and a mustache in place of the scraggly beard and shaggy hair. They all stared at in in variations of shock.

"What?" Gibbs asked looking at their gob smacked expressions. McGee grinned, his unnaturally white teeth shining. Ziva nodded, starting to come around to the idea of everything retiring back to what it was. Meanwhile Tony swallowed, looking over at Claire who smiled tightly. Things were going to get interesting and she didn't know if it would be for the better or for the worse.


	5. Chapter 5

[Singled Out: 1] 

**...**

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

Tony was grinning in anticipation as he perused around the director's office, waiting for her to join him. He had been told to wait for her in the office once he arrived that morning. Nothing totally new as he had been doing some 'errands' for her recently. Spotting a very nice bouquet of flowers on her desk Tony peered out the door to make sure no one was coming. Seeing no one, he curiously walked forward picking up the card attached to the plant. Tony glanced back again as he started to open the small envelope.

"Is there a reason you're touching my flowers, Tony?" Tony's eyes widened in alarm and he turned to face the director innocently, hiding the card with his body. She smiled at him in amusement, closing the door behind her.

"I..I was just admiring them, Jenny. Flowers…are…..are a passion of mine." Tony smoothly covered, smiling at her innocently as she came to stand next to him.

"Really? So, then you'd know how rare and expensive they are?" she questioned pointedly. Tony nodded, huffing in agreement as he couldn't actually give a verbal answer. He had no clue and they both knew it.

"And their name." Director Shepherd continued, watching him squirm a bit. Tony's brow rose in alarm.

"Of course." He scoffed, glancing back down at the flowers. Jenny grinned, but quickly covered her amusement as he stuttered through an explanation.

"Well uh….judging by the color…and uh of course the uh…the green things?.."

"Stems." She helped him out.

"Right stems….uh these….right on the tip of my tongue." Tony grimaced, gesturing to his mouth as he tried to keep up the act.

"Spathoglottis orchids?" she suggested.

"Orchids! Of course they're orchids." Tony chuckled nervously. Director Shepherd held out her hand to him expectantly. Tony frowned sheepishly, knowing he was caught.

"It…slipped out when I was sniffing them." he weakly explained, handing her the card he had slipped into his pocket. Jenny nodded and hummed, obviously not convinced but didn't comment on it. She smiled, walking back around to her chair.

"Tony, how would you rate your recent performance as team leader?" she inquired, getting down to business. Tony frowned in confusion, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Uh, I'd say it was a solid B." he told her honestly. Jenny looked up at him in surprise.

"…minus.." he amended as she stared silently at him. Tony's expression dropped in dismay.

"I'm being fired aren't I?" he asked nervously.

"In a manner of speaking yes." She answered vaguely.

"If this had anything to do with Gibbs coming back, I have no problem working for him." Tony told her seriously, not wanting to leave the job he loved. She nodded with a small smile, handing him a file.

"These orders are for you." Tony took them with a frown, his eyes quickly scanning them over.

"NCIS, Rota Spain?" he asked in surprise.

"Your own team. Congratulations." Jenny told him with a grin. Tony gaped in surprise, staring down at the papers.

"I don't know what to say." He murmured.

"Your performance over these lasts four months has been exemplary. You've earned it." She assured him, taking a seat in her chair.

"What about la Grenouille? It took months getting in." Tony inquired. A month or so ago, Jenny had come to him with a secret mission to infiltrate the life of an arms dealer. His gateway was through the man's young daughter who happened to be a doctor in a nearby hospital. After a day of heavy training at NCIS, Tony managed to get himself hurt and through some connections, the director had arranged for her to be his attending physician. Now the two were somewhat friends. It had been a long shot but this still had been the closest anyone had gotten to the family. The only downside was that the whole setup was strictly off books and remained between him and the director. Claire didn't know the full extent of the mission, but it was just a minor setback. He was just friends with the doctor and honestly didn't have to much interaction other than 'running into her' and chatting for a couple hours. No harm no foul and his director was happy.

"You're not getting too involved are you?" the Director asked him warningly. Tony quickly dropped the papers back onto her desk. That was the last thing on his mind. He had no reason to get involved in Jeanne's life, he had Claire to come home to and he intended to keep it that way.

"Only in the mission. If we put another agent under cover, la Grenouilli will smell it." Tony assured her. That was the truth but Jenny could tell that there were other things at play in this decision.

"So you're passing on a promotion any other agent would kill for, all because you're worried about some long shot mission?" Jenny asked him skeptically. Tony nodded mutely.

"I don't think so." She deadpanned, looking up at him knowingly. He sighed, pulling up a chair across from the desk.

"Ok, I'm worried about Jethro." He told her honestly, well more honest than before. It was about 2/3 of the whole truth but enough for him to convince Jenny.

"Jethro's fine." she assured.

"Then explain that thing on his upper lip. It looks like Woolford Grimly Junior." Tony grimaced, referring to the new mustache Gibbs was sporting.

"You're turning down a promotion because of a mustache?" Jenny chuckled. Tony licked his lips, staring at her seriously.

"His memory is still screwed up. He called Ziva, Kate yesterday." He elaborated in concern.

"I just wanna make sure he's 100% before I leave." Jenny nodded.

"I see. And how long might that process take?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe a few months?" Tony suggested.

"How does 72 hours sound?" Director Shepherd countered.

"Pretty fast."

"It wasn't a question." Jenny told him sternly. Tony's expression fell.

"I need an answer by then end of the week." She insisted. He nodded solemnly in understanding.

"Tony, if you pass this up another opportunity might not come up for years." Jenny imputed, staring at him thoughtfully. The man in front of her was more than deserving of a promotion like this and she hated to see him throw it away. Tony didn't say anything but his eyes showed confliction. He slowly stood to leave, turning back when he reached the door.

"Can we keep this like, the Grenouilli mission? Just between the two of us?" he requested.

"If you wish." She assured.

"Thank you." Tony nodded as he walked out. From the upper level of the building his eyes ran over the team as he watched them over the railing of the stairs. Could he leave the team? McGee and Ziva were at her desk, chatting away. Tony's eyes ran over to the other half off the squad room, spotting the main reasons behind his reluctance. Gibbs was working on his computer with his new mustache, and his new attitude. Gibbs just wasn't back to his old self and it bothered Tony more than he cared to admit. Then finally at her own desk was Claire. Tony knew full well that she would be all for this promotion but at what cost? They were getting somewhere and Tony couldn't remember the last time he had been this genuinely happy. If he left would she stay here? He didn't even know if she could get transferred to Spain with him, which would be the best option. Would she even want to go?

Tony's cell rang, breaking him out of his thoughts momentarily.

"Dinozzo….stop calling me from dispatch will you Mohini? I'm not the team leader anymore, Gibbs is…trust me it makes a difference, now call him and leave me alone." Tony sighed, as he made his way down the stairs. The last comment caught Ziva and McGee's attention.

"Problems Tony?" she asked.

"Wrong number Ziva." Tony corrected tightly, reaching into his desk to pull out his weapon. The other two watched him curiously as he began to gear up. Claire heard the rustling and looked up from her work, frowning in confusion.

"Is there a reason you're gearing up?" McGee inquired. Claire glanced over as Gibbs answered his phone. Narrowing her eyes she looked back over at Tony. There had to be some connection.

"What's my motto McGee?" Tony asked him.

"You'll never date a woman who eats more than you do?" McGee answered in confusion. Claire's eyes widened, her head shooting up in surprise.

"What?" she asked, looking at him with an accusing glare. Tony chuckled nervously.

"…well yea that might have been true at one time…but it's always be prepared. The bat signal may fly at any moment." he insisted, picking up his backpack.

"Grab your gear, we're heading out." Gibbs told them almost instantly. The other three agents shot Tony incredulous stares before rushing to grab their own stuff.

"Holy sixth sense Batman, how did you know?" Claire asked as she caught up to Tony with a teasing grin. Tony chuckled at her Robin reference, his mood brightening a bit.

"Well it's a gift, I chose not to question it." Tony smiled smugly. The four of them quickly fell into line after Gibbs, heading to the elevator.

"Where are we going boss?" McGee inquired.

"Ask DiNozzo, all I got was a wrong number." Gibbs quipped. Tony grimaced, knowing he had been caught. Claire let out a laugh, rolling her eyes in amusement.

"Well I see he hasn't lost his touch." Claire quipped with a teasing grin. Tony glared at her halfheartedly.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Our crime scene was a bit different than what we normally had. When we arrived there was no body, just a bloodied car in an empty campus parking lot. Tony was taking photos of the deserted car. The back window had bloody handprints all over it, along with spots of blood in the trunk of the car where our missing person was apparently held.

"Since when do we investigate stolen cars, Tony?" Ziva inquired curiously.

"Since it belongs to a sailor….and someone appears to have been slaughtered inside it." Tony pointed out.

"So, where's the body?" she asked defensively. I watched the two of them from the other side of Tony. Ever since Gibbs had come back, those two especially had been at each other's throats. McGee was a bit more passive aggressive about it while Ziva was right there to rub this whole new dynamic in Tony's face. Which was totally uncalled for.

"Well that's kinda why we're here." I pointed calmly, hoping to shut down the upcoming argument.

"It's all part of the criminal investigative type of thing." Tony added sarcastically. So much for stopping the argument.

"Oh ok, I understand." She hummed smugly. Tony glared at her curiously.

"Understand what?" he bristled.

"You feel a little threatened now that Gibbs is back." Ziva pointed out.

"I do not." Tony defended, his voice going up a pitch. Ok so obviously he did at least a little bit, but there's nothing wrong with that.

"You have been whining like a little snitch all week." She countered in annoyance. Tony glared at her, taking a moment before speaking.

"The term is bitch." He corrected weakly.

"I know, I was trying to be polite." Ziva retorted. Tony sighed in annoyance as they each took opposing ends of the car.

"Would it kill you to get off his back for one second." I muttered warningly. Ziva pursed her lips but said nothing, which was probably the best course of action right now.

...

After a few moments Tony came back around to open up the trunk of the SUV, taking more photos of the inside.

"There appears to have been a struggle." Ziva mused.

"What tipped you off?" I asked dryly, looking down at the blood smeared trunk.

"Bloody hand ad fingerprints, a lost shoe, a pair of glasses. And I don't think she was slaughtered. At least not in the back of this vehicle." She pointed out. Tony looked over at her questioningly.

"Why is that?" he inquired.

"The traces of blood are all from skin contact. A more serious wound would have left pools of it." Ziva gestured to the smudges everywhere.

"Enough criminal investigating for you Tony?" she asked snidely. I quickly pressed a hand against Tony's chest before he could retort. Now was not the time to have a verbal throw down. Gibbs quickly strode up, handing Tony a piece of paper in the middle of his stare down with Ziva.

"Lieutenant Sullivan's address, she lives in Culpeper." Gibbs explained, not commenting on the palpable tension between his agents. Tony handed the paper to Ziva.

"Take McGee, if you leave now you can avoid traffic. Anything unusual you call me." Tony told her tightly, still glaring. We all looked over at him uncomfortably. After a moment Tony realized Gibbs was staring at him along with the rest of us. Tony chuckled nervously.

"I mean, you do…you…whatever you want them to do boss." Tony quickly backtracked. He stared down at the ground uncomfortably while we waited for Gibbs to make a decision.

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

Tony, Ziva and Claire walked under the yellow tape, being the ones assigned to investigate the apartment. Claire, mostly to keep the peace between the two as they were still tense around one another. Tony pursed his lips as he caught Ziva's smug expression.

"So I got used to being in charge, sue me." He admitted. The two of them quickly approached the driver side while Claire took shotgun, watching them with wide eyes. Ziva reached for the handle while Tony quickly grabbed the edge of the open window, blocking her from opening it.

"Is there a reason you always have to drive?" Ziva growled.

"I could say it's because I'm the senior field agent, but mostly because I want to live." He hissed.

"Then I recommend you get unused to being in charge, before Gibbs decides to kill you." She hummed. Tony grunted in frustration as she stormed away. She glared at Claire who was holding her ground by the passenger door. Ziva huffed, sliding into the backseat. Tony roughly threw his backpack into the backseat, causing Ziva to dodge it as he slid in. Claire watched Tony worriedly out of the corner of her eye. He was gripping the wheel tightly while Ziva stewed in the backseat. She silently buckled up and mentally tried to settle in. This was going to be a long car ride.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

The Bickerson twins were still at it as we entered made our way through the hallways of the apartment complex. I led the way, trying to stifle the headache they were causing me.

"If you let me drive we would have been here a half hour ago." Ziva huffed.

"Yea our bodies could be in a twisted wreck awaiting the jaws of life." Tony retorted dramatically. Ziva pursed her lips.

"Gibbs lets me drive." She shot back pointedly. I groaned, would she drop it already, this was getting ridiculous.

"I have more to live for." Tony countered calmly. Thankfully neither of them noticed the hitch in my walk. What was he doing?!

"I see, perhaps it's this new mystery girlfriend of yours" Ziva probed.

"She's not a mystery" Tony told her. I turned to glance at him curiously but he wouldn't meet my eyes. Instead he was busy looking over the door numbers.

"Then why haven't any of us met her? It's been months." Ziva continued.

"Look its complicated." Tony explained but before he could continue, our eyes caught sight of an open door at the end of the hallway. Silently we sprang into action, Ziva taking one side of the door with Tony and I on the other side. Tony opened the door the rest of the way, allowing Ziva to take the lead with me close behind. It didn't take long for the three of us to look over the small space, despite everything in sight being tossed and trashed.

"Clear." Ziva relayed from the other side of a bookshelf that nearly divided the room in half. I frowned, the room giving me a sense of déjà vu. I feel like I had been here before.

"This is weird." Tony muttered, holstering his gun as something on the bookshelf caught his eyes.

"I agree. Someone was obviously searching for something." Ziva mused, slipping on her gloves.

"No, I mean this apartment. What does it remind you of Claire? Just put a writing desk over there." Tony pointed to an empty space. I gasped in realization.

"You're right. It's practically…"

"Identical to McGeek's," Tony finished for me as he went to look over another section of the room. I was glancing over the tattered computer. Someone had done a number on it, meaning that Abby was going to have quite a time trying to search through the hard drive.

"What do you make of this?" Tony asked, lifting up a piece of paper that was on the floor. The two of us came to kneel down next to him. At the top of the page was a generic label with a table listing records and personality traits beneath it.

"Some kind of profile?" I suggested, looking down at the other papers similar to it that had been ripped out of a folder.

"They're all profiles." Ziva added, sorting through the papers.

"I think I know what the profiles might have been used for." Tony commented, showing us the label of the binder he had found. **Potential Targets 2006.**

"She was targeting people." Ziva surmised in surprise.

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

Back at NCIS, McGee was showing Tony and Gibbs what he had gathered about the people in the car.

"This is a police sketch artist rendering what the witnesses saw late yesterday afternoon." McGee pulled up the sketch before setting it next to the lieutenant's military ID photo.

"This is a photo of Lieutenant Sullivan for comparison."

"I'd say that's a pretty good match." Tony pointed out.

"You think DiNozzo?" Gibbs mused sarcastically. Tony shot him a look from the other side of McGee.

"The driver?" Gibbs continued.

"Fredericksburg PD put a BOLO out on him last night." McGee informed, pulling up another sketch.

"Any hits?" both Tony and Gibbs asked simultaneously.

"Sorry boss." Tony whispered. Gibbs just smiled at him in amusement while the younger man cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Continue….if you want to." He stuttered before looking away. McGee glanced over at Gibbs before continuing.

"Um no hits yet but the local Leos did match his likeness to a mugshot." McGee pulled up the second photo.

"Justin Farris. Arrested for car theft 5 years ago. Currently lives with his mother who claims she hasn't seen him since yesterday." he rattled off.

"Our Lieutenant had her own 16 profiles of people in her apartment." Tony pointed out.

"Without photo IDs or names, I'm still waiting on the why." Gibbs added, looking to Tony pointedly.

"Me too boss, I'm just saying Farris might be one of them. Could be our Rosetta Stone if you will" Tony answered.

"Find him." Gibbs ordered.

"That's good work Tim" Gibbs complimented as he past. Tony bounced slightly on his toes, waiting for his compliment as Gibbs paused next to him.

"Not bad either Tony." He muttered before continuing off, presumably to Abby's lab. Both agents frowned as they watched the man leave.

"Is it me or does he seem a little more?.."

"Human?" Tony suggested.

"..well I was going to say mellow but..yea." McGee admitted.

"Yea, I think it's the mustache. Lulling us into a false sense of security." Tony whispered thoughtfully. McGee's face screwed up thoughtfully at his theory.

...

Down in the lab, the girls were sorting through all the papers and putting them in order by number.

"That's all of them." Abby announced.

"It appears one of them is missing." Ziva gestured to an empty space.

"Missing what?" Gibbs asked, striding into the room.

"One of the profiles. AB1016." Abby explained, stepping aside to let him in between the three women.

"Targets?" Gibbs inquired.

"The binder they were kept in listed them as potential targets." Claire nodded, looking over at her boss expectantly.

"Yea, AB designation. That's how we designate our intended targets in the corps." Gibbs explained to them.

"Maybe she was planning on dropping bombs on them?" Abby pointed out.

"What else was missing from the Lieutenants place?" Gibbs asked, circling the table.

"I'm more concerned with what was left Gibbs. Money, jewelry, its not your typical burglary." Ziva countered.

"That means they knew what they were looking for." Claire tagged on.

"What can you tell me about these?" Gibbs asked, standing back over near the papers.

"She was profiling men. All the information gathered was taken from public records." Ziva answered.

"Yea I can see that, why?" Gibbs continued. Abby dutifully raised her hand.

"Well that's an excellent question I was wondering that myself." Ziva nodded. Gibbs shot her a look before turning to Abby.

"Abby." He acknowledged.

"All of these were printed form the same printer. Wanna know how I know?" she asked eagerly.

"The newer models imprint microcode in the print. Used to ID hardware in counterfeit and money laundering." Gibbs answered.

"Wow good guess. It also means the information that they represent is also on her computer." Claire added eyeing Gibbs warily.

"Show me." Gibbs insisted, gesturing towards her computers. Abby's smile dropped slightly.

"I'd love to….but I can't yet." She pursed her lips, leading Gibbs to her other table.

"Bad guys smashed up real good." She sighed, looking down sadly as the trashed computer.

"I'm still trying to recover the hard drive." Abby elaborated.

"How long?" Gibbs asked.

"Did I mention bad guys smash up real good? Like really, really good. Probably days." Abby told him with a frown.

"We don't have days abs. Get McGee to help you." Gibbs told her, turning to walk off but Abby quickly latched onto his forearm.

"Wait! There's more. I ran the fingerprints from the SUV and matched all of them except 3 to a partial handprint." She told him with a grin.

"Yea and?" Gibbs snarked.

"And I can say with absolute certainty that the woman in the back of the SUV was.."

"..Lieutenant Anne Sullivan. McGee already figured it out." Gibbs told her, trying to rush off again but once more was grabbed by Abby.

"Ok, did he tell you this? The partial print that I couldn't match has a super defined index finger. Which means it's not Sullivan's, it's the bad guys." Abby grinned triumphantly.

"I'm running it now." She told him.

"His name is Justin" Gibbs deadpanned, causing Abby's grin to fall as he walked out for good this time.

"McGee." Abby growled. The three women watched him leave curiously.

"Is it me or does he seem a little?..."

"Snitchy?" Ziva suggested.

"That's close enough." Abby nodded. She narrowed her eyes at the door Gibbs had left thorough

"It's gotta be that damn mustache." Claire mused.

...

That night, Tony was on the phone while McGee was working at his computer.

"I want the names of anyone who met, knows, or sneezed on Justin Farris in the last year Mulhini." Tony insisted. He looked over at McGee and snapped his fingers, trying to get the man's attention.

"Probie!" he whispered, throwing a piece of trash at Tim's head. McGee frowned in annoyance but didn't respond.

"Well if you find anything be sure to call Gibbs not me." Tony reiterated to the man on the phone.

"Yes, the mustache is real." Tony deadpanned before hanging up. He glared over at McGee whose eyes remained on his own work.

"You got a hearing problem?" Tony asked. McGee raised his eyebrows and turned to the man.

"Oh I'm sorry were you talking to me?" he asked sarcastically. Tony stood up and stared at him in confusion.

"There's no one else in the squad room." he pointed out. McGee looked up at Tony in annoyance as he come around his desk. Tony frowned, not understanding why he was so upset.

"Well I hear you say Probie. And since agent Lee has been reassigned back to the legal department I wasn't exactly sure who you were referring to." McGee droned pointedly. Tony sighed, leaning on the desk. He chucked humorlessly.

"Ah I get it. You don't like being called Probie anymore?" Tony inquired tightly.

"Things change." Tim hummed.

"Yes I know, I used to be team leader….Probie." Tony pointed out, prolonging the word Probie purposefully. McGee glared up at him.

"Temporary…team leader." He countered.

"And that was only because Gibbs quit." Tim added bitingly. Tony's jaw ticked.

"You don't think I ran my own team?" he asked warningly.

"Wouldn't be here now if you did, would you DiNozzo?" McGee pointed out. Tony huffed, knowing how different it really was. If only McGee knew.

"Yea, maybe you're right." he mused bitterly.

"If Gibbs asked, tell him I went out for coffee." Tony informed McGee quietly, not wanting to give Tim the satisfaction of seeing how those comments had hurt. McGee's gaze softened a little at Tony's abrupt change of tone. He sighed guiltily.

"Tony, I didn't…" he tried but Tony quickly held his hand up to stop him, not bothering to turn around as he left heading towards the elevator. A sigh caught his attention and he winced at the withering glare Claire shot him before she took off after Tony. McGee stared down at his desk, ashamed he had attacked the man who was his closest friend. Another figure came to sit on the side of his desk. McGee looked up at Gibbs who he knew had been listening in to the conversation along with Claire.

"McGee, how long have I been an NCIS special agent?" the older man began quietly.

"Almost 16 years"' he answered after a moment. McGee looked up at the man intently.

"Take a wild guess at what my first partner still calls me." Gibbs told him pointedly. With that he left McGee alone to think. Maybe it wasn't a derogatory term as he had originally thought it was.

...

Meanwhile, Claire quickly caught up to Tony, sliding into the elevator just before the doors closed. Tony stared at her tiredly but didn't make a move as he retreated into the corner to stew. She quickly reached over and shut the elevator off and stared at him. Tony wouldn't budge.

"Tony, you know he didn't mean it." She began quietly, hoping to prod the stubborn man into talking. Turns out that was all it took. Tony scoffed bitterly.

"I think on some level he did. If only he knew how wrong he was! I mean I was just offered my own team this morning because I ran my team and I ran it well…"

"You were offered a team?" Claire cut him off, causing him to wince. Well so much for keeping it to himself. Tony shrugged, scratching the back of his head.

"Yea. NCIS Rota, Spain." He admitted with a small grin. Claire beamed in excitement.

"Tony that's fantastic! When do you leave?" she inquired, however her proud smile dropped when Tony stared down at the floor.

"You took it right?" she asked him slowly. Tony grinned sheepishly.

"I told her I would think about it." He admitted.

"What is there to think about? Tony, you ran the team well and you're getting rewarded for it. And after all the crap you've been getting it think you are more than entitled to leave." Claire told him adamantly, reaching up to hold his shoulders.

"There's a lot to think about. I have some unfinished casework to do, Gibbs is still out of whack and you…" he stammered, trying to verbalize everything that had been swirling around in his brain since that morning. Claire smiled gently, reaching up to cup his face and turn it toward her. Tony watched her, his face collected but his eyes showed the vulnerability he was feeling inside.

"Gibbs will be fine, it's not your job to babysit him. And I know you mean the errands Jenny sends you on, she wouldn't give you the promotion if it was that important." Tony's eyes widened in alarm.

"I'm not stupid Tony, I am a trained investigator. It's need to know, I get it. And I trust that if you needed help you would tell me." She assured him in amusement. Tony grinned before sighing tiredly, leaning his forehead on hers. He closed his eyes as he felt a sense of peace wash over him, letting her in on the promotion was taking a load off his shoulders.

"What about you?" he whispered worriedly, not daring to open his eyes. She ran her thumb across his cheek soothingly, and Tony reached up to hold onto her wrist as is he was afraid she would bolt. He finally opened his eyes and stared down into hers.

"Don't worry about me. I know we can work it out. Sometimes it's ok to be a little selfish, Tony. This is one of those times." She told him sincerely. Tony nodded, still not feeling any better about it. Claire lifted herself up to press a gentle kiss to his lips, assuring him that it was all going to work out.

"Just promise me that you'll actually think about it? I know you'll make the right choice but it needs to be from you. No pressure from anyone else, ok?" she requested pointedly. Tony grinned, leaning in to kiss her once more.

"I promise I'll seriously consider it." He agreed. Claire nodded stepping back as they composed themselves for work once more. She took a step towards the switch but Tony quicky swooped in and yanked her back to his chest. Claire yelped in surprise, and grinned.

"Well since we have some time alone I figured I might as well make the most of it." He told her as explanation before bending down for a longer, deeper kiss. Claire hummed in delight as she wrapped her arms around his neck, breaking away to press kisses along the edges of his lips. Tony grunted in annoyance, causing her to giggle before landing one last kiss directly on his lips. They both pulled away from one another, panting slightly.

"Will that hold you?" she asked cheekily. Tony bobbed his head in thought before stealing one last kiss.

"Ok, now I'm good." He beamed. Claire rolled her eyes before flicking the switch to turn the elevator back on and standing next to Tony. She quickly smoothed her hair down at the doors opened on the garage floor. Tony looked up to see the man in the sketches. The one had was seen driving the SUV. Looking own at the mug shot in his file, Tony grinned, holding the door for the man and the two guards escorting him. He quickly reached up to press the button for the bullpen floor.

"You've done it again DiNozzo." He mused proudly. Claire scoffed as the doors closed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sooooo sorry about the major delay! My schedule has been absolutely insane and I have had no time to work on the story. I promise I haven't dropped it and I still plan continuing it but I have no guarantee on when I will have free time to write. Thanks for bearing with me and I hope you like this next chapter.**

...

[Singled Out: 2] 

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

The man, Ferris, was brought up into interrogation with Gibbs.

"I voluntarily turned myself in, I'm just trying to do the right thing here agent Gibbs." He explained. Gibbs remained silent as he looked over his files.

"look I'm admitting it ok? I stole the damn SUV but I didn't kidnap anyone." Ferris continued earnestly. Gibbs pursed his lips and set the sketches of him and the missing Petty Officer on the table.

"How do you explain these?" Gibbs asked.

"I didn't know that chick was back there when I took it." Ferris explained.

"Her name is lieutenant Anne Sullivan!" Gibbs snapped sternly, holding up her military photo.

"Where is she?" Gibbs asked him.

"Look I told you I don't know. I am telling you that I committed grand theft auto, why would I do that if I wasn't telling the truth?" Ferris asked pointedly.

"To avoid kidnapping and murder charges." Gibbs retorted. The man's eyes widened dramatically.

"Whoa…she's dead? No, she was alive and screaming the last time I saw her…"

"Screaming what?" Gibbs asked with a growl.

"I don't know something about being singled out by some guy." He stuttered, his face scrunching up as he tried to remember.

"What guy?" Gibbs pressed.

"I didn't exactly stick around to find out ok? I am telling you I didn't kill her." he reiterated. Gibbs sighed, picking up his coffee and standing to face the two-way mirror.

...

Tony and Ziva watched from the other side of the mirror.

"What do you think?" Tony asked.

"He might be telling the truth." Ziva told him, watching Ferris thoughtfully. Tony frowned in confusion.

"I mean about the mustache." He explained as if it was obvious.

"Oh…makes him look distinguished, yes?" she corrected, the two of them watching Gibbs smooth it down in the mirror.

"It's not Gibbs." He retorted. Ziva pursed her lips, staring at Tony pointedly.

"People change." She quipped sharply.

"People maybe, but not Gibbs." Tony countered.

...

"I thought it was too good to be true, the door was open, the engine running. I couldn't help myself agent Gibbs." The man continued explaining.

"Where?" Gibbs asked, leaning against the corner of the table.

"It was the Texaco station on Wildwood Road. I'm telling you the first time I saw this chick…sorry Lieutenant Sullivan was in the rearview mirror when she woke up and started screaming." He insisted.

"The last time?" Gibbs inquired.

"In the lot where I dumped the ride. You know I even dialed 911. I mean yea, I hung up but I dialed. That's gotta count for something right?" he asked, growing nervous as Gibbs began packing up his files.

"Wait…wait, there might have been another car." He quickly imputed as Gibbs reached the door.

"A silver Honda Accord that I thought might be tailing me. I thought somebody saw me boost the SUV at the station." Gibbs set down his cup and files, leaning in closer to the man. Finally they were getting something relevant.

"Did you see the driver?" he asked. the man shook his head.

"No, he was wearing a ballcap. I never got a good look at his face but he must have followed me. That's who you should be looking for. I'm not a kidnapper." Ferris insisted pleadingly.

"No, you're just the dirt bag that left her there to die." Gibbs shot back, leaving the man with a hurt look.

...

 **Tony's POV:**

Up in the bullpen I was munching on a burrito while Claire did some stretches as we looked at the plasma screen. Just as I was about to take another bite, she stretched her arm over her head causing me to duck out of the way. I frowned looking over at her but found that I didn't really mind it.

"What are you doing?" I questioned, pouting as I shied away from her arm once more. Here I was, trying to enjoy my food and she was stretching her limbs all around….distracting me….her shirt lifting up just a little to show her torso….what was I doing again? She straightened back up and turned to face me, her lips quirking as I blinked out of my daze.

"I've been sitting at a desk all day I need to do something or I'll knot up." She explained casually. I nodded silently.

"Do carry on then." I gestured, taking a bite of my meal. Claire grinned, rolling her eyes but continued twisting her torso around in a tantalizing manor. Taking a break, she clicked the remote, pulling up a map as she began explaining the evidence we had gathered.

"Ferris claims he didn't know Lieutenant Sullivan. She was in the vehicle when he stole it. When she started screaming he dumped it here with her still in it. Which means the kidnapper must have followed Ferris to get the Lieutenant back." She explained.

"If he's telling the truth then that still doesn't explain why she's profiling people." I commented, subtly eyeing her as she stretched her back out.

"Blackmail, espionage, assassination." Claire quickly listed off before bending to touch her toes.

"All good reasons why….someone would want to make her disappear." I paused and leaned back to get a better view of her ass in the air. Suddenly this burrito in my hand was more of a hinderance….I couldn't reach out to grab her. No…bad Tony we're at work. I quickly swallowed and looked back down at my food, suddenly not very hungry.

"We could be missing something." She mused, touching the ground.

"Believe me not from this angle." I hummed absently. Claire grinned looking up at me from her upside-down position.

"Enjoying yourself?" she queried in amusement. I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously, she was totally doing this on purpose now.

"Very much so." I beamed, this time not trying to be as subtle when I leaned backwards to admire her form. I heard the elevator ding and my head snapped up to see Ziva making her way towards us, thankfully distracted by her phone. I cleared my throat, shooting Claire a panicked look. As Claire whipped upright, I quickly leaned forward to stare at the screen intently as if I had been doing that the whole time. Claire nodded politely at Ziva as she came up next to us.

"She could be a covert operative." Claire continued, getting back to the screen.

"She's a navy computer geek who worked on software for base housing. According to her coworkers she's a female version of McGee." I scoffed pointedly.

"Being a geek makes for a good cover." Ziva countered, joining in the conversation.

"Cover for what?" Gibbs asked as he joined with a coffee and a Caf-pow.

"We're still trying to figure that out boss." I hummed, turning back to the screen.

"Did you pull security tapes from the gas station?" Gibbs asked.

"There wasn't any, the systems been broken for a month." Claire explained as we turned to face Gibbs at his desk.

"The tire marks check out Ferris's story. They came from a factory made standard Honda Accord." I relayed to him.

"Let's hope that Abby and McGee had better luck. Come on." Gibbs gestured for us to follow as he rushed towards the elevator. I looked down at my cold burrito and grunted in displeasure knowing I had to toss my lunch in the trash before following after the group.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Down in the lab we found Abby and McGee fast asleep as rows of code were flitting across their computer screens. We silently walked in and stood behind them watching for a moment. They were both out cold.

"I wouldn't call this luck." Tony mused. Gibbs leaned down next to Abby's ear.

"Your computers on fire." He whispered. Instantly Abby jerked half awake, causing McGee to jump up with her.

"McGee by babies!" she alerted, spurring him into action. We all watched in quiet amusement as both of their fingers flew across the keys.

"Checking internal core temperature." He muttered automatically. After a few seconds the two of them blinked, coming back to full awareness to see that nothing was wrong with their computers. Abby turned to glare at Gibbs.

"That is so not funny Gibbs." She insisted sternly. The man grinned impishly and placed her Caf-pow next to her.

"We must have nodded off." McGee muttered drowsily.

"Tell me you have something." Gibbs requested, heading over to look at the big screen.

"We have something. We just don't know what it is." Abby answered. She pulled up a dashed line with encryptions at various points on the line. It was all gibberish so it was not helpful in any sense.

"Looks like a timetable for an operation." Gibbs commented.

"The only thing is that the events on the axis are encrypted." Abby frowned.

"We've been trying to crack it all night." McGee sighed.

"Try harder McGee, the chances of finding her alive drop to almost zero after 48 hours." Tony mused, coming up to stand by Gibbs. He winced, glancing at Gibbs apologetically.

"Sorry, I'm sure you already knew that boss." Tony muttered.

"Don't apologize DiNozzo. It's a sign of weakness." Gibbs told him.

"Not to mention annoying" Ziva added. Tony threw her an annoyed glare from across Gibbs. Once he had turned away in frustration I not so subtly jabbed her in the ribs, smiling in satisfaction when I heard her grunt. She turned to comment but I quickly silenced her with a warning glare, daring her to say something.

"We were able to pull some programs off her directory, this was the only one that stood out." Abby told cut in, breaking up the tension. She pulled up a program that had pictures on both sides with one in the middle up onto the plasma.

"Morph pro. Its super high-end imaging software. Its unusual because it retails for over 5,000 dollars." she explained for us.

"$5,000 bucks is a lot on a lieutenants salary." I mused aloud.

"What's it for?" Ziva inquired.

"Morphing human features. Here, we pulled some test runs out of her account." Abby answered typing in some controls on the program. On the screen the lieutenant's face rapidly aged in the center screen.

"Oh yea. This is like the end of saving private Ryan, you know where Matt Damon morphs into his older self. Anybody else get head faked by that because Tom Hanks is who I thought….." Tony paused his ramble when he noticed Gibb's stare. He quickly turned back to the screen, squinting in mock concentration. I bit my lip and hid a grin behind my hand. At least he was still comfortable enough to be a goof.

"I've seen something like this before, Abby. Mossad used earlier versions to age Nazi war criminals. It was a great asset to hunting them down." Ziva pointed out thoughtfully.

"So basically, what you're saying to me is we have nothing." Gibbs pointed out, walking over to Abby. She gasped in mock offense.

"Gibbs….Ziva is talking about Nazis, I wouldn't exactly call Nazi's nothing." She explained weakly.

"You don't have anything do you?" I mused knowingly.

"We have nothing." Abby agreed seriously.

"Until we crack her encryptions." She added in explanation.

"You mean 'if'." McGee corrected.

"It's high level and its extremely sophisticated" he elaborated with a sigh as they stared at the jumble of letters and numbers on the screen.

"Would a password help?" Ducky inquired striding into the room.

"Well yea Ducky but we don't have it." Abby shrugged.

"Well I just spend a long night in our lieutenant's head."

"Well that sounds painful" I muttered under my breath. Tony snorted, shooting me a disappointed look at my poor excuse of a joke.

"I might be able to offer some suggestions. Try Cora Gables." Ducky continued, looking to McGee who inputted the passwords. Access was denied.

"Uh Fiddlers Green…..Hampton Inn….." This might take a while….

"Nice try. Tony, Ziva, Claire you're with me." Gibbs instructed, obviously thinking the same as I was. The three of us started to follow him out.

"Spanish Rose." Ducky suggested. This time it flashed green.

"Whoa!"

"We're in!" Abby and McGee remarked in delight just as we reached the door. Now that we actually had something to go on we began to file back in behind them.

"Ducky that's…"

"Mind blowingly amazing." Abby finished for McGee.

"It's more of an art than a science." Ducky mused humbly, but still pleased with himself. We all watched silently as the timeline cleared to reveal actual words. I frowned walking closer to the screen, reading off a…..relationship timeline? Dates and years on when to get engaged, house, career, marriage, kids. Really over the top actually.

"Oh Lieutenant Sullivan was indeed into targeting people." Ducky mused as he read over the diagram.

"She was using all her military knowledge and skills…..to find a husband." I realized, looking over the timeline.

"Looks like she found herself a psycho instead." Gibbs mused dryly.

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

Up in the squad room, McGee was playing with the morph-pro program from the lieutenant's computer. Now that they could access her files he pulled up previous runs, which were morphing her face with those of various men.

"Now that we have access to the lieutenant's files we can see that she was using morph-pro to predict the appearance of her adult offspring." McGee explained to Ziva, running a test on one of the men. The center image morphed their facial features to produce a very pretty looking young woman.

"That's creepy. No wonder she couldn't find a husband." Tony muttered, walking back to his desk from where he was watching the plasma. Ziva and McGee shot him disappointed stares.

"You know choosing someone to spend the rest of your life with is not easy. You want to know all the facts before deciding." McGee insisted. Tony bit his cheek, choosing to try and ignore them. He knew all this, he had proposed to Wendy way back when and it hadn't worked out. While he was thinking back on not so fond memories Claire watched him from her spot standing by the plasma screen. She knew bits about that whole Wendy situation, Tony had mentioned it once while he was a bit drunk but it was obvious that it was a sensitive topic. He didn't mention it the next morning and she never brought it up either.

"That's what dating is all about." Ziva added from beside Tim. Tony glared over at them.

"Yea you should try it sometime McGee." he shot back spitefully.

"I wonder what it would look like if you two hooked up." McGee mused deviously, looking between Tony and Ziva. Tony stiffened and shot McGee an unamused glare before looking over to Claire for help. She ignored his silent plea and was very interested in how that would pan out. Claire and Ziva watched in amusement as McGee imputed their photos and they watched the program morph the features.

"Guys meet your lovechild." McGee announced as the program revealed a rather pudgy and angry looking baby. Ziva chuckled in amusement, looking over at Tony who grinned. They both knew that would never happen and the interesting looking child helped to confirm it in a joking manner. Ziva eyed Claire thoughtfully.

"Do Tony and Claire." She suggested, wanting to play with the program some more. She didn't notice Claire and Tony's tense expressions.

"Yea, you know just in case you two end up drunk and have a friendly hookup." McGee snickered.

"Don't get your hopes up." Claire shot back, joining in the teasing. Unable to resist the temptation Tony slowly stood to stand next to her in order to get a front row seat to the morph. The couple would be lying if they said that they didn't want to see this 'child'. Curiosity never hurt anyone. Everyone watched as their pictures went up and morphed into a child. Both Claire and Tony's wide grins dropped into thoughtful ones as they stared at 'their child'. McGee had upped the age to a child of about 3 and was a girl as per the setting.

"Oh wow she's cute." McGee smiled down at the photo. The little toddler was looking back at the group with Claire's black hair in a mop of wispy curls on top of her head with beautiful bright greenish blue eyes, a mix of Tony's hazel and Claire's blue. Claire and Tony couldn't help but stare at her, a weird sense of sadness and slight panic hitting them in a strange mixture. This child was totally made up and probably wouldn't come about but they couldn't help but already become attached to the photo. Claire and Tony glanced over at one another before widening their eyes in alarm and staring back at the photo uncomfortably.

"Good thing she seems to have all of Claire's genes." Ziva snickered, relieving the uncomfortable feelings between Tony and Claire. It worked and the group chuckled. This time when Tony and Claire locked gazes they shared a devious grin.

"Do Gibbs and the Director." The duo suggested in sync. This time when McGee imputed their photos a very pretty redheaded woman appeared on the screen.

"Hmmm….now that's not a bad combination." Ziva mused seriously.

"Even with Gibbs as a father, I'd date her." Tony added.

"Never more than once DiNozzo." Gibbs quipped as he strode into the room towards his desk. Abby come up close behind and looked over at the photo.

"Aw, you and the Director made nice Gibbletts, Gibbs." Abby complimented.

"McGee pull up that website." Gibbs requested, dropping a paper onto the man's desk. The others turned to face Gibbs curiously.

"While you three were playing, Abby found out where our lieutenant was the day she was abducted." Gibbs informed them. McGee pulled up a website for a singles weekend that Gibbs had directed him to.

"Speed dating?" Ziva read off in confusion.

"There was an email invitation on her computer. It's a three-day event and she went missing after the first day." Abby elaborated.

"The gas station where Ferris stole the SUV was two blocks from the event." Gibbs added.

"So, she wasn't screaming about being singled out by a guy." Tony realized, remembering what Ferris had mentioned.

"She was talking about this." Ziva finished his thought.

"I've heard of VSO. Apparently, they have an 85% success rate." McGee commented, looking at the website thoughtfully. Tony, Claire and Ziva turned to look at him with varying expressions ranging from amusement to incredulity.

"For what?" Ziva asked in confusion.

"For marriages." McGee answered.

"What about kidnappings McGee?" Gibbs snapped.

"I will work on getting a list of clients and telling you that."

"I've tried it. Their lawyers say that Virginia's Singled Out is a confidential service so they have their client list under lock and key." Abby informed them. Tony cleared this throat.

"Warrant. On it boss." Tony informed, turning to head to his desk.

"We don't have time for that the event ends tonight." Claire countered gesturing to the dates on the website.

"I can't tell you who is there, but I can tell you that it's the same guys from Sunday night. Wanna know how I know?" Abby imputed eagerly.

"VSO is designed to introduce successful men to a wide assortment of eligible women. Each night brings the promise of romance and the chance to find your soulmate." McGee recited, staring at the screen as if lost in thought. Everyone turned to stare at him in wide eyed amusement. Obviously, he had done more than just heard of it. Noticing their stares McGee dropped his eyes, finding the floor very interesting.

"Or so I've heard." He quickly amended. They continued staring at him.

"Ok you know what I…I thought about going to one….one time." McGee admitted, looking between the four of them.

"When this is over you and I are going to have a little talk." Tony muttered pointedly.

"So the men remain the same but the women change every night." Abby directed them back to the topic at hand, holding back a smile of her own.

"Looks like we're going to be doing this the old fashion way. So Ziva…still think being a geek makes for good cover?" Gibbs inquired, looking down at her. Ziva narrowed her eyes at him thoughtfully.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Down in Abby's lab, McGee grimaced as he stared at Ziva new appearance Abby and I had put together with Ducky's help.

"You sure about this?" McGee asked skeptically.

"Oh absolutely." Ducky nodded.

"We have created an image of Lieutenant Sullivan's type." He elaborated, looking over Ziva's outfit with a nod. She grimaced in dislike as she looked down at her frumpy black shoes, plaid skirt suit compete with a puffy white blouse underneath her jacket. Abby stood behind her fixing her hair into a low but tight bun. Ziva was definitely fitting in with the nerd vibe right now.

"Hopefully the similarities will trigger a visceral resonance in our kidnapper." Ducky elaborated.

"Do you really think he'll come back for another woman, Ducky?" Ziva inquired shifting uncomfortably while Abby continued tightening her bun.

"No, no. I think he'll come back to avoid suspicion." Ducky clarified.

"I doubt you'll be in any kind of danger." He assured as an afterthought. McGee handed her a pair of large framed black glasses that were similar to the lieutenant's.

"Video surveillance glasses." He explained. I took them and helped place them on Ziva's face before finishing with a flourish and letting Ziva look at herself in the mirror. Tony and Gibbs entered, the former beaming at Ziva's new look.

"Good work." He complimented, staring at Ziva with barely contained glee.

"I look like a dork." Ziva deadpanned at her reflection.

"Yea, that's the point." I confirmed.

"And this is a portable fingerprint scanner, its wireless." Abby held up a small ring that had a longer flat piece that would be hidden under her finger.

"We'll know within a matter of seconds if the prints you collect match our mystery print in the SUV." McGee tagged on.

"All you have to do is get each dater to press his right index finger, here." Abby demonstrated using Gibb's finger.

"Really? Is that all Abby? How do you suggest I do that?" Ziva asked sarcastically.

"Improvise, you'll figure it out." Gibbs told her.

"Our priority is ID the members and finding out which one drives a silver Honda accord." Tony added. Ziva nodded in understanding.

"Any questions?" Gibbs asked her.

"Yes just one….can anyone explain to me what speed dating is?" she requested, looking around the table at the rest of us. Tony and I shared amused expressions. This was going to be quite entertaining.

...

Tony, Ziva and I were all going undercover at the VSO convention. Ziva obviously as the geeky dater, Tony a casual guest at the bar to keep an eye on the room, and I had secured a job as one of the fill in bartenders to work the staff angle. At the speed dating conference all the women were seated at small two person tables while the men gathered around the bar chatting with one another. Tony took his seat by the bar while I came around wearing a tasteful uniform with a red vest but it was a bit smaller in the chest….which I'm sure was no accident. I made my way over towards Tony, acting casual while the two of us eyed the room.

"So how did you get a bartending gig so quickly? Don't you need special skills or something?" Tony inquired leaning on the bar so only I could hear him.

"I am a woman of many talents my dear." I told him impishly. Tony's mouth quirked up in amusement.

"What will it be?" I asked him, eager to prove my skillset. To think he would doubt me.

"Surprise me." He shrugged. Without further prompting I grabbed a couple of different alcohols and drink mixes. Mixing drinks was like riding a bike for me. I had done some bartending in college which was the basic stuff but once I was sent on some more lengthy undercover gigs I had to up my skills. Now I could tend with the best of them. Tony's eyes lit up in delight as I poured each drink into a canister with a flourish, my movement smooth and like that of a dancer as I spun around the bar grabbing my ingredients. Once I was done with that I sealed the shaker and began mixing it with in an elaborate routine of flipping and twisting from every angle, even doing going so far as to catch it behind my back. Once I was finished I poured my creating into a glass for him, leaning on the bar and watching him taste it with a grin.

"You are fantastic." He gushed, taking another small sip. I chuckled at his surprise and enthusiasm. Suddenly I felt a hand at my back and turned to see one of the other tenders, Graham, standing at my side.

"Sorry to interrupt but the men at the end of the bar are requesting your presence." He nodded over towards the group of speed daters that were watching our interaction. I blushed a little, surprised that I had grabbed attention so quickly. Sending Tony one last smile I made my way over to chat with the men while mixing their drinks just as elaborately as I had done for Tony. I'll have them singing like canaries in no time.

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

"90 second dates, I thought you were kidding me Gibbs." Ziva muttered under her breath as she fidgeted in her seat.

 **"You'll be fine Ziva, I've had marriages shorter than that."** Gibbs quipped. Tony was keeping watch by the bar while Claire continued entertaining the group of daters at the bar.

"I'm starting to understand why." Ziva muttered sourly as she pushed her glasses back up on her nose.

 **"Tony, sit rep."**

"No silver accord in the parking structure. Claire is becoming the entertainment committee and our nerdy girl is looking a little nervous." Tony relayed as he casually glanced around the room sipping on his special made drink.

"I think we found her kryptonite. Our big bad spy doesn't do geek." Tony taunted, catching Ziva's eye from across the room.

"Did he just say Greek?" she bristled.

 **"How about both of you, shut up."** Gibbs scolded. McGee's lips quirked up with a grin as he sat at the analyst station with Gibbs in MTAC. A bell chime sounded alerting the men to take their places at a table while the manager announced that the times were beginning. Claire took the time along to clean the bar while her eyes wandered, looking for anything odd.

A very jittery man took his spot at Ziva's table and it was obvious that she was very uncomfortable.

"Hi, Natalie I'm Larry." Ziva stared at him with wide eyes, muttering a weak greeting.

"Last name?" she asked stiffly.

"Uh..West. I'm a banker by trade but my real passion is astronomy." The man gushed nervously. Ziva nodded stiffly, glancing around the room.

"Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?" he asked politely.

"I like….computers…and….that stuff you do with…the yarn." She rattled off sounding quite robotic.

"Knitting?" Larry asked in confusion.

"Yes…that's it" Ziva nodded. Tony watched with wide eyes as they fell into another round of uncomfortable silence.

"Has anyone told you you're very attractive Natalie?" Larry smiled at her.

"My brother." She deadpanned.

"That's interesting..." Larry trailed off staring at her oddly.

"My god Ziva, you need to get him interested in you not think you're going to murder him in his sleep." Claire pointed out. Watching and listening this conversation was getting painful.

"Get his prints Ziva." Gibbs prodded. Ziva sighed and reached over to grasp the man's hand, getting into another conversion while the scanner got his prints.

"What's that you've got in your hand there?" Larry asked, feeling the weight of her scanner.

"Oh it's called a mood scanner, lets me know if you're in the mood." Ziva chuckled coyly, quickly coming up with a lie.

"Oh very new age, I like that." Larry hummed, Ziva grinning politely as she played along.

"There's something about your eyes." she continued.

"Oh I get that a lot…its allergies." Larry winced.

"What kind of car do you drive?" Ziva continued, feeling a little more confident.

"What does that matter?" Larry asked nervously.

"Well cars get me very..hot…Larry." she whispered. Tony watched her in confusion as she stuttered her way through the explanation. He looked over at Claire bewildered. She merely shook her head in exasperation.

"I drive a….a porch." He muttered. She heard Claire snort out a laugh.

"You mean a Porsche?" she supplied for him.

"Yea, it's in the shop." Larry tried to smoothly play off the obvious lie.

"That's a nice car." Ziva nodded.

 **"He's clean Ziva."** Gibbs informed her as the chime went off for the men to switch.

"Yea well you didn't have to smell him Gibbs." Ziva quipped.

 **"And do turn up the charm Ziva, you're a geek not mentally deranged."** Claire and Tony snickered while Ziva pursed her lips in displeasure at the jibe. Ziva's charm continued going up as the night went on, going through man after man.

...

Over at the bar, Tony's body was slightly turned so he could watch the room but in a subtle way.

"Can I get you another one sir?" the bartender asked Tony politely.

"Uh, yea sure why not. Thanks….Graham." Tony nodded, reading the man's nametag. He turned his head to look back over at Ziva.

"Are you with the speed dating party, sir?" Graham asked. Tony looked at him in surprise.

"Why, do I look like I need that stuff to get a date?" he inquired.

"Nah sir. It's just that they get 15% off drinks." Graham clarified, setting down his order.

"Ah just my luck." Tony muttered jokingly. Graham stared at him for a moment as if wondering why he was here alone.

"I'm uh…just waiting for a friend. Met her online last month. She was supposed to be here an hour ago." Tony chuckled, looking down at his watch. At this Graham nodded in understanding.

"Wanna see a picture?" Tony inquired. Graham nodded with a grin and looked down at the photo of Lieutenant Sullivan on his PDA.

"Recognize her?" Tony inquired as the man's smile dropped.

"Dirty vodka martini." Graham nodded.

"She's a regular. I saw her on…Sunday afternoon." he added after a moment of thought.

"Really? Was she here alone or with someone?" Tony continued.

"With the speed dating party. A couple of guys were buying her drinks afterwards. You know how that goes." Graham chuckled.

"Yea…any of those McFisters here now?" Graham looked over at the speed dating group as he cleaned a glass.

"That's one of them right there. The uh…gentleman with the glasses across from the nerdy looking girl." he nodded over to the man Ziva was currently chatting with.

"Oh, thank you." Tony nodded to the barkeep who walked off to wipe down the bar.

"Did you get that boss?" Tony muttered under his breath.

 **"Got it. I need a print on this guy and you are out of time, Ziva."** Gibbs insisted, watching as the man in question continued talking with his hands preventing her from grabbing them as she had been doing with the others. Ziva tried multiple times to grab his hand but couldn't hold it long enough to get a full print.

"Well we couldn't get a print but we did get a hit on his name. Calvin Hooper reported a Silver Honda accord stolen from his house in Fairfax. It could have been the one following Ferris." McGee quickly informed.

"Tony, take him down quietly. Claire get him out of there." Gibbs ordered. Tony slowly stood from his seat at the bar while Claire slipped around the bar, making a beeline for the man.

"Intercepting now boss." Tony muttered as he paid his tab. Claire smoothly went approached the man just before he sat down at another table.

"Can I talk to you for a moment hon." She politely requested, leading the man away from his 'date'.

"Me?" Calvin asked incredulously. Claire kept hold of his hand as she led him closer to the main area of the hall.

"Yea, sorry I just had to get you out of there. I know this is totally out of line but would you like to get a bite to eat?" she asked with a shy grin. Calvin's eyes bugged.

"You mean together?" he asked in surprise. Claire giggled and smiled at him coyly.

"You just made quite the impression on me when you were at the bar earlier and I just got off my shift." She explained with a grin.

"Uh sure I'd love to." The man nodded.

"Or uh…maybe we could just skip dinner and go straight for desert." She purred, leading him further away from the group. Calvin chuckled nervously but his eyes lit up with desire. Tony calmly made his way over towards them, but Calvin took no notice.

"You know this kind of thing never happens to me." The man hummed, his hand sliding down to squeeze her butt. Claire made a noise of surprise, stiffening up. Tony quickly joined them at that exact moment, his eyes boring into the side of Calvin's head.

"Calvin Hooper?" Tony quietly asked.

"Yes?" Calvin looked over at him in surprise, his hand never leaving Claire's backside. The man looked down at the badge Tony was flashing and he shrunk back a bit at his threatening glare.

"Remove your hand or I will remove it from your wrist." Claire growled lowly getting the man to quickly release her. McGee sighed as the was able to piece together the bits of fingerprint they had gotten on Calvin from Ziva's scanner.

"It's not a match." McGee told him.

"What?" Gibbs asked in surprise, looking over his shoulder.

"Run it again." Gibbs insisted.

"Boss he's not our guy." McGee reiterated with a frown.

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

Back at NCIS Tony and Claire were prepping to interrogate Calvin Hobbs.

"Alright game plan." Tony kept his hand on the door but didn't turn it just yet.

"Good cop, Bad cop?" she suggested? Tony nodded in thoughtfully approval.

"Ah a classic, simple." He mused.

"Calvin strikes me as a simple guy. Don't think it will take much effort." She pointed out with a grin.

"Touché. Alright who's who?" Tony questioned. Claire rose a brow and pursed her lips.

"He grabbed my ass….." she reminded in distaste. Tony nodded, not liking that small detail. He wasn't all too thrilled with that either and wanted to threaten the guy too. Then again, he didn't blame her for wanting to make the guy sweat.

"Alright but I get bad cop next round. I like bad cop, it's more fun." He insisted.

"Deal." Claire grinned. Tony paused before turning the doorknob, looking up and down the hall to make sure no one was around. He quickly leaned down to peck her lips, pulling away before she could respond to it. Claire bit her lip, holding back a grin before clearing her throat and schooling her features once more. Tony nodded and opened up the door, letting her enter first. Calving paled at seeing her in her much more intimidating agent gear and her barely contained fury as she sat down across from him. Tony came in much more charismatic and came to stand next to the nervous man, leaning in towards him in a non-threatening way.

"You have no right to arrest me." Calvin pointed out nervously.

"But you're not under arrest Calvin." Tony countered.

"Yet." Claire cut in. Tony shot her a look.

"We just want to clear up a few things." he elaborated gently.

"No one read me my Miranda rights." Calvin pouted, looking between the two of them.

"That's because you're not under arrest." Tony reiterated.

"Yet."

"Claire!" Tony hissed. Her jaw clenched as she glared back at him.

"Sorry!" she hissed back sarcastically. Tony gestured for her to join him in the corner heatedly. She stood while Tony moved behind the man, throwing his arms up in exasperation at her 'attitude'.

...

"You should be proud of him." Jenny mused from the interrogation room where she and Gibbs were watching the interaction.

"Who? DiNozzo?" Gibbs inquired, not looking away from the bickering duo in interrogation. They had huddled over in the corner while Tony 'scolded' her for her attitude quietly.

"When you left there were some….rocky moments. He really held the team together." Jenny continued.

"that's what I trained him to do." Gibbs nodded as if it was obvious.

"I just thought you should know he excelled at it." She mused pointedly.

"Then give him his own team Jen." Gibbs added, not looking away from the two. Jenny's lips lifted in a thoughtful smile.

"You think he's ready?" she inquired.

"I wouldn't have quit if I didn't." Gibbs pointed out.

"You should tell him that." She hummed.

"Oh trust me, when DiNozzo thinks he's ready for his own team you'll know about it." Gibbs commented knowingly.

"Hell, the whole world will know about it." Gibbs added in amusement.

...

Tony and Claire broke off to interrogate the man once more. Claire sitting across from the man while Tony knelt next to the man, setting down a file.

"So, you reported your car stolen Sunday night." Tony began. Calvin frowned.

"Yes….is that some kind of crime?" the man asked warily looking over at Claire.

"No, no of course not. However, filing a false police report…"

"Crime." Claire cut him off, glaring hard at the man. They both looked at her in surprise.

"I think I want a lawyer now." Calvin murmured. Claire turned to Tony challengingly.

"What part of 'you're not under arrest' don't you get Calvin?" Tony asked with a strained smile.

"So...I…I'm free to go here at any time?" he inquired.

"Sure." Tony nodded. Calvin waited a moment before standing but Tony quickly grasped his shoulder and pulled the man back down.

"Unless we charge you with a crime." He added tightly, dropping his good cop act. Tony stood and began pacing around Calvin.

"See the thing is Cal…can I call you Cal? Our releasing you means more paperwork for me." Tony began, stopping to take a seat by Claire.

"So, what I need from you is the truth." he continued.

"But my car really was stolen." Calvin insisted in confusion.

"Which works for you. Unfortunately, you reported it stolen from your home in Fairfax." Tony winced.

"Speed dating is a three-day event. You stayed at the Belmont every night. You paid cash up front." Claire listed off.

"Which is wise considering you're….married and attending a speed dating service." Tony pointed out as the man fidgeted.

"I'm calling his wife." Claire told Tony, pulling out her cell.

"No!" Calvin quickly jumped to stop her.

"Wait please….it wasn't stolen from my house…but she…but my wife…..she'll find out." Calvin stuttered pleadingly.

"And my wife is at her sister's place in Jersey. They just had a baby." Calvin explained. Tony let out a small awe and grinned as he leaned on his hand. Claire heard it and looked over at him with a curious frown. He was cooing over a baby? Tony's grin dropped when he noticed her stare and he quickly looked back at Calvin.

"We've been married for 18 years now. I was just trying to have a little fun." Calvin explained.

"Yea…what we need to know is where and when Cal." Tony asked, still leaning on his hand.

"The first..day of…the event I…struck out." Calvin began sheepishly.

"Shocking." Claire droned as she took notes. Tony subtle kicked her under the table.

"So, I drove over to the Texaco station to get some cigarettes and some wine. And I'm in the store maybe a minute when I look out and this guy is driving away in my car." He explained to them. Tony widened his eyes, wanting a bit more but Calvin didn't pick up on the hint.

"Please describe him." Tony requested.

"White…about your height…he was wearing a Chicago cubs hat. I mean really I just got a glimpse of him." Calvin stuttered.

"Not good enough. You grabbed my ass Calvin." Claire mused in disgust as she began dialing.

"No..no hold on! Just a second…just…just give me a second." He stuttered pleadingly. Claire hung up and waited for the man to gather his thoughts.

"Oh when I drove up he was standing out front and he….he uh was on the payphone." Calvin added.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

In the bullpen Tony, Ziva and I were staring at the map of where the cars traveled.

"Ferris steals the lieutenant's SUV with the lieutenant in it from the gas station at around 18:00." Ziva began.

"And then cubs hat steals Calvin's car at the same time, same place and follows them." Tony continued.

"Well do you think they were working together?" Ziva asked.

"It's possible." I muttered thoughtfully. Gibbs came up behind us carrying a tray of coffee which I quickly grabbed as he showed up.

"Except they weren't." Gibbs pointed out, handing the other two the coffee he had brought it.

"The guy in the Cubbies hat stopped by to use the payphone, he didn't wanna risk being overheard. Didn't plan on Ferris stopping by and stealing his car." Gibbs elaborated.

"So, he had to steal the accord to follow Ferris." Tony added.

"If he wanted the lieutenant back." I nodded in agreement.

"Well we gotta get that payphone back and find out who was calling." Tony mused, looking to Gibbs.

"McGee just brought it back." Gibbs commented before taking off towards the lab, the three of us dutifully following after.

...

After getting the address of the call from Abby, we all piled out of the NCIS car outside the warehouse she had directed us to. Slipping out of the car in the back alley we headed towards the entrance with flashlights and guns drawn. Tony held his light for Ziva as she quickly picked the padlock on the door, swiftly opening it to let the rest of us inside first. We quickly filed in, quietly using our lights to scan the area. Once she was inside, Ziva flipped on the light as Tony and McGee continued on to clear the other room which was also empty.

"No one's hear boss." McGee announced as they put their guns up and began riffling through the items in the other room. Gibbs and I were scanning the crates in the front area while Ziva wandered towards the corners.

"The lieutenant was here." Ziva informed as she slipped into a small holding area.

"It's her purse, the military ID is still inside." We looked over to see Ziva holding her wallet up.

"They knew we were coming." I sighed looking around at the practically empty room.

"Maybe not. Boss, you definitely need to check this out." Tony called from the other room. He led us to a whiteboard and other documents scattered around the room.

"Looks like a professional crew. Detailed itinerary, blueprints, a scale model." Tony pointed out the items.

"It's for the Belmont plaza hotel." Ziva realized with a frown.

"Are they planning a heist?" McGee asked in confusion.

"Yea, a big one. The coin convention has an auction and they're all held in the hotel's vault." Tony explained looking over the photos of the rare coins up for sale.

"Does it say how?" McGee inquired.

"From inside, they're working the place." Gibbs answered, setting a waitressing uniform on the table. I felt so stupid. Why hadn't I noticed anything out of the ordinary while I was working with them?

"What does the lieutenant have to do with this?" I inquired. If they wanted to do an inside heist it was easy enough but I couldn't see where she fit into the picture.

"She was dating one of them. AB1016." Ziva read off from the missing file of the lieutenant's binder.

"It's the missing profile. Says here that he's a bartender, lied to her about his entire past." she continued.

"She background checked his cover." Tony added.

"I can only imagine he panicked when she began questioning him about it." Ziva continued.

"We need to get to the hotel before they hit the vault." Tony commented.

"They started four minutes ago." Gibbs alerted as he read the time schedule.

"I know exactly where they are working." I added, glancing over the plans of the hotel. Thankfully I had walked up and down those areas during the very short time I was working for them.

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

Outside in a van by the hotel the bartender Graham was inside with Ann Sullivan, putting a silencer on his handgun. A banging on the door caught his attention and he opened up the back to see a laundry cart with one of the women helping him.

"We're running 8 minutes behind schedule." He muttered, yanking the cart from her.

"Sanitize the warehouse we meet at the warehouse in 2 hours." He ordered. The woman nodded stiffly but he paid no notice as he shut the back door of the truck once more. He walked back towards the crying woman in the corner.

"It's nothing personal Annie, you just know too much." Graham muttered, aiming his gun at her.

"Don't move." Ziva warned from the cart behind him.

"Drop your weapon. Or if you prefer I can shoot you in the spine." She added as he stiffened up.

"Would you rather be a para or a quadriplegic?" she asked warningly. Graham's head jerked up at the sound of sirens outside.

"NCIS put your hands where we can see them" Tony called from outside the van. Graham sighed and dropped his gun to the side, raising his hands up in surrender.

...

Outside Ziva was taking care of the lieutenant by the ambulance while McGee and the other cops were taking statements from the thieves. Claire was escorting Graham to the police cruiser, passing by Tony and Gibbs.

"Can't tell me you didn't miss this in Mexico?" Tony mused form behind Gibbs. Gibbs shrugged.

"Couple of minutes." He told him nonchalantly. Tony frowned.

"That's it?" he asked in confusion. Gibbs turned to look at him.

"That's the difference between putting the lieutenant in a body bag or an ambulance." Gibbs pointed out before walking away, leaving Tony to think about it.

...

Later that night after most everyone had left, the director looked up as someone knocked on her office door.

"Come in Tony." She called with a soft smile. He opened the door with a frown and curiously looked on the other side of the steel door as if looking for a secret window.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked in confusion.

"Because your deadline passed hours ago." She pointed out. Tony nodded as he walked over to stand in front of her desk.

"I've made my decision." He told her after a beat of silence.

"And I respect it. Sometimes I even wish I made the same one myself." She mused. Tony frowned.

"But I'm passing on the promotion Jenny." Tony pointed out, thinking she missed the point.

"I know." She nodded.

"Well how can you know I just made up my mind behind the door." Tony scoffed in confusion.

"To get here in this office, especially as a woman. My career has been on the fast track my entire life. And between you and me, sometimes I wish I had taken it a little slower." Jenny told him knowingly. Tony grinned as he shuffled his feet around.

"So you're not disappointed?" he asked quietly.

"No. Actually I'm feeling a bit proud at the moment." she hummed. Tony grunted thoughtfully.

"Go home and get some sleep." She insisted. Tony nodded before heading out. He paused and turned around at the door.

"Listen, this wouldn't be the right time to bring up the possibility of a performance award…or.." he asked hopefully. Director Shepherd smirked in amusement.

"Goodnight Tony."

"Yea I didn't think so." He muttered with a sigh before heading out the door.

...

Tony walked in late, shutting the door as quietly as he could so as not to wake Claire. Slipping out of his clothes he crawled under the covers in just his boxers, snuggling in behind her. She shifted sleepily, tilting her head back to look at him blearily.

"Go back to sleep." He whispered, nuzzling into her hair and pressing a kiss on her head.

"How did it go with the director?" she asked groggily, rapidly blinking her eyes so she would be lucid enough to have this conversation.

"I'm not taking the job." He admitted to her, looking down so as not to meet her eyes. He didn't know how she would really feel about his decision.

"Are you ok with that?" she inquired, watching his reaction. Tony glanced up.

"Are you? I just don't know if I made the right decision." He told her nervously. After all, he had just passed up a tremendous opportunity. Claire rolled over even more so that she was lying flat on her back, turning her head to face him. Tony shifted, lying on his side and propping his head up on his hand.

"Well…how do you feel now that you said no?" she asked him seriously. Tony paused thinking about how he truly felt. He had passed up on a great job advancement, and yet he felt oddly at peace. He may have missed out on his own team and going to Spain but he was home with his friends and his girl. One that he was very serious about. Now that he actually thought about it, he was just fine staying where he was.

"I feel good about it." He told her quietly, his lips quirking up into a smile. Claire nodded.

"Ok." she rolled back over onto her side, snuggling deeper into her pillows. Tony frowned in confusion.

"Ok? That's it?" he prodded, yanking on her shoulder and rolling her onto her back. Claire grunted in displeasure.

"Yea. Tony if you're happy then I'm happy." She grinned up at him sleepily. Tony returned her smile and leaned down to press a kiss to her lips.

"Now if you wake me up again…..I will kill you." She whispered with a grin, but Tony knew she was pretty serious. He nodded in understanding and chuckled as she rolled back over. Sliding down behind her, he slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her back into his chest. He fell asleep with a smile on his face, knowing that he had made the right decision. This….this is what he really wanted.


	7. Chapter 7

**I know I have said it tons of times but I'll say it again. Sorry about the wait! Working all summer gives me even less time to write so I do what I can. Thanks for following and sticking with this story, hope you keep enjoying it!**

 **...**

[Faking It]

...

 **3rd Person POV:**

Tony was scarfing down his breakfast of eggs and toast while reading the paper at his kitchen counter. His head perked up as he heard the door opening but wasn't overly bothered by it when he heard the voice that followed shortly after.

"Tony?" Claire called as he heard the sound of her travel bag hitting the floor. The duo had taken to commuting to work a few times a week so it was no surprise that she had stopped by this early. Tony swallowed a burnt piece of toast with a grimace. Breakfast wasn't exactly one of his specialties. How he could manage Italian dinner dishes and not toast was beyond him.

"Kitchen." He answered, taking a swig of his highly sugared coffee to get the taste out of his mouth.

"Tony does this outfit make me look fat? I couldn't decide at home and I knew I had a couple extra pieces here so…" she quickly informed, walking into the kitchen smoothing down her outfit. Tony looked up as she entered and stared at her for a moment. She looked quite the opposite actually. He took in her toned legs and her ass that were accentuated in her dark skinny jeans she had paired with some heeled booties. Her figure being shown along with her flattering V-neck shirt was quite distracting. But he wasn't going to complain about that. This distraction was very welcome.

"…no…doesn't look fat at all." He muttered after a few seconds of staring. Claire looked up from where she had been picking a piece of lint off her thigh glared at him suspiciously.

"You hesitated." She accused. Tony's eyes widened in surprise.

"What, no I didn't." he countered. Claire pursed her lips and popped a hip, arms crossed across her chest. He was really in for it now.

"Yes, you did so I'll ask you again and be honest. Does it make me look fat?" she inquired. Tony instantly shook his head in denial.

"No, absolutely not. You look great." He assured her. Nodding hesitantly, she took his word for it and walked over to rummage through his fridge for some orange juice. Tony watched her intently, as he chewed on another forkful of eggs. His eyes narrowed worriedly as his mind started to wander. If he was distracted by her more than usual in that outfit…then what were other men's reactions going to be? He couldn't have that.

"So…you're really going to wear that to work?" He asked casually. Claire paused, her drink halfway to her mouth.

"What?" She inquired. Tony cleared his throat, turning to face her from across the room.

"Are you really wearing that to work?" he asked again. Claire glowered at him.

"You just said it looked fine. Were you lying to me?" she asked warningly. Tony swallowed nervously.

"I'm not lying to you." He assured.

"So it would be perfectly fine if I wore this to work right? Cause you wouldn't let me walk around in something unflattering, would you?" Clare challenged, staring at him intently.

"Yea, go ahead. You look great." he answered with a grin.

"Liar." She countered instantly. Tony sputtered indignantly.

"Wh…I am not lying." He insisted his voice taking a higher pitch.

"So, you really think I look fat in this." she snarled, setting her half empty glass aside. Tony quickly held up his hands to placate her.

"No!" he told her sternly. Claire watched him with a skeptical stare as he slowly approached her as if she was going to strike him at any moment.

"You do not look fat. I promise." He told her seriously. As he reached her Claire's glower lessened and her shoulders relaxed as he ran his hands up and down her arms comfortingly.

"If I did you would tell me and not let me walk around like that right?" she asked him one last time. Tony nodded.

"You ready to go to work now?" he asked tentatively, trying to distract her from the problem at hand. He knew that they were stuck with this outfit now, he couldn't exactly tell her not to wear it now. That would just continue making the mess bigger than it already was. He would just have to be extra vigilant. Claire pursed her lips but didn't answer. Tony slowly leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. Her lips quirked up minutely before she scowled at him again, not quite ready to relent.

"Please?" he pressed with a small grin. Claire shrugged. Tony leaned in and pressed a longer kiss to her lips, Claire responding just a bit more.

"How about now?" he asked. Claire bit her lip and grinned thoughtfully.

"Not quite yet." She hummed. Taking the hint Tony leaned in and kissed her soundly, swelling with male pride as she hummed in pleasure while returning his affection.

"Fine, we can leave now." She chuckled wrapping her arms around his waist in a hug. Tony laughed at how quickly her mood would shift before letting go of her to clean up the remains of their brief breakfast.

...

Now back at NCIS, Claire watched in confused fascination perched atop Tony's desk as the man balanced a pencil on the crown of his nose in boredom. They had nothing to do but kill time until a case came up. Claire glanced up as she heard the 'ding' of the elevator, revealing the arrival of their other two coworkers.

"Men are such bad liars" Ziva scoffed as she and McGee exited the elevator.

"But if a good liar told you a lie then you wouldn't know he was a liar." McGee countered. Ziva scoffed out a laugh.

"I would." She chuckled smugly as they entered the bullpen area.

"How would you know?" McGee inquired skeptically.

"Know what?" Tony hummed as he sat at his desk, staring at the pencil with great concentration. Claire smiled in amusement as his eyes crossed.

"When an expert liar is telling Ziva a lie." McGee answered, turning to face Tony. He frowned and looked over to Claire for explanation on why Tony was balancing a pencil on his nose.

"We got bored." She muttered with a shrug in clarification. McGee nodded in acceptance.

"And this started how?" Tony inquired, his eyes still crossed as he focused on the pencil in the middle of his face.

"When I told Ziva that I went to the gym this morning." McGee explained. At this Tony let the pencil drop into his hands, shooting the man a deadpan stare.

"No great skill in guessing you were lying there, Probie. You may have lost some weight and personally I am very proud of you, but gym is definitely not your middle name." Tony pointed out, shooting Ziva an unimpressed glance. McGee rolled his eyes.

"Ok well Ziva thinks that all men are liars." McGee continued. Tony laughed in amusement.

"Well I don't think they're all liars but most men are bad liars." Claire added, agreeing with her thought. Ziva grinned and gestured towards Claire as if to say 'see, she gets it.' Tony frowned and eyed the women skeptically.

"Really?" he mused in interest. Rolling away from his desk Tony jumped up to face Ziva as he leaned against the front of his desk. Claire rose to stand next to McGee, eager to watch the inevitable challenge.

"So if I were to lie to you, you…would be able to tell." Tony asked, obviously not believing her claims. Ziva chuckled.

"Particularly you." She pointed out demeaningly. Tony still grinned.

"You think" he countered smugly.

"I wouldn't go there Tony." McGee warned, turning to leave but Tony quickly put a hand on his chest to stop him from moving away.

"Oh watch and weep." He assured the man, his eyes never leaving Ziva's.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world." Claire hummed, beaming in excitement. For someone who was very good in undercover situations, Tony was a bad liar to those close to him.

"True or false, I had eggs for breakfast this morning?" Tony hummed. Ziva narrowed her eyes at him for barely a second before answering.

"True." She answered, standing up straighter and moving closer to Tony. His smile dropped off his face at how fast she answered.

"Lucky guess." He sneered as she stood in front of him, causing him to look up at her as he was still sitting on his desk.

"Last night, I had a date with a very beautiful woman." Tony asked. Ziva tilted her head.

"False." Ziva told him.

"She's good." Tony muttered. Claire hadn't been over last night, she had dinner with some old college friends of hers.

"My first car was a shiny new red Corvette." Tony asked with a grin.

"False." His smile dropped once more.

"Strike three, I win." Ziva taunted before sauntering back to her desk. McGee watched with an amused grin, smiling over at Claire who was snickering.

"How did, how did you do that?" Tony muttered in disbelief.

"When you said you owned a Corvette you looked down and to the left…." Tony glanced down in thought as she explained, his face full of confusion.

"..a telltale sign when people lie." She explained.

"And the date?" He asked.

"Tony, if you had gone out with a beautiful woman last night you would have talked about it all day." Ziva chuckled knowingly. Claire nodded along in thought, that was true. He would gloat about it every time which to be honest, greatly boosted her self-esteem.

"I would?"

"Oh yea." McGee confirmed with a brief head nod.

"How could you possibly know that I had eggs for breakfast this morning?" Tony continued, standing up and frowning at her. Before Ziva could answer, Gibbs cut in.

"Gear up. We got a message from a dead guy." Gibbs informed them, the agents quickly grabbing their bags and guns.

"Ready to go!" Tony called as he grabbed his head.

"DiNozzo" Gibbs called as he passed. Tony whipped his head up questioningly.

"Yea boss?"

"You've got egg on your shirt." He pointed out, walking backwards for a brief moment before heading to the elevator.

"Not just on your shirt." Ziva added as she followed after Gibbs. Tony glowered at them. He quickly joined the group, walking alongside Claire as she passed his desk.

"You couldn't have told me I was walking around with egg on me?" he whispered accusingly. Claire bit her lip trying not to laugh.

"I might have been waiting to see how long it would take you to notice." She sheepishly admitted. Tony glared at her halfheartedly.

"You are a cruel woman." He muttered. Claire laughed, pleased with herself as they entered the elevator.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

At the crime scene we walked over towards the crashed car with the dead man inside. The car had collided with a police cruiser while the cops were arresting another man they had pulled over. As we walked up to join Gibbs and Ducky the officer at the scene gave us the rundown.

"According to his military ID his name is Jack T. Vale. You know him?" the man asked Gibbs.

"No" Gibbs shook his head.

"Well he knows you guys." The officer gestured to the passenger seat. In the empty seat beside the dead man, the letters NCIS had been spelled out in his blood, and judging by the red stains on his fingers, Vale was the one to write it.

"Jackpot, there's got to be 50 or 60 bucks there." Tony commented looking down at the bags of coins that had spilled out of the car in the crash.

"There's more in his trouser pocket." Ducky added as he examined the man's stomach wound.

"What do you think, illegal slots?" Tony questioned as I snapped photos next to him.

"Maybe he was on his way to a video arcade." McGee suggested.

"What grown man would go to an arcade during the day, let alone with that many quarters?" I pointed out, looking over at Mcgee. I stared at him in surprised amusement as he refused to meet my gaze and simply shrugged. The things you learn about people.

"Maybe he was doing laundry." Ziva put in her own suggestion.

"That's a lot of laundry." I wrinkled my nose as I stared at all the quarters.

"Maybe he was a once a month kind of man." Ziva pointed out.

"I do mine once a week." Tony commented. I looked up at him curiously.

"Laundry." Tony clarified. Ziva grinned disbelievingly and chuckled at the lie. He definitely went longer if I didn't get on him about it. Tony made a face as we turned our backs to him, trying and failing to hide our grins.

"Who's the fare?" Gibbs asked, looking over at the man in the back of the cop car.

"Oh, that's Robert John Stevens. The guys got an accent as thick as polish sausage so I ain't buying it. He had a loaded .38 on his seat, recently fired." The officer explained as Gibbs passed the man's ID to Tony. He held it out so I could snap a photo and get a closer look at it myself. Decent fake but not one of the best I had seen.

"He got an exit wound?" Gibbs asked, turning to Ducky.

"Well there doesn't appear to be an exit wound. So, I'll take out the bullet, you match it to the weapon and hey presto! Justice prevails." Ducky summarized with a grin, causing me to smile at his optimism.

"Open and shut case, boss." Tony mused with a smile of his own.

"No such thing DiNozzo, only water tight." Gibbs countered before making his way towards the man in the cop car.

"Will you give me a call when you're finished?" Ducky inquired, looking over at Tony and I.

"You've got it, Ducky." I assured.

"Thank you my dear." He nodded before heading back to the autopsy van. McGee and I had maneuvered over to the passenger side of the car while Ziva looked over the driver. I was still snapping photos. Ziva stood and looked over Tony's shoulder at the mystery man's driver's license.

"It doesn't look like a fake ID." Tony hummed thoughtfully.

"Fake." Ziva countered easily.

"What are you talking about? You barely got a look at it." Tony scoffed.

"I can spot a fake a mile away." Ziva explained smugly.

"She's right, it totally a fake. A decent one but still a fake." I informed him. Tony pursed his lips and looked at the ID again.

"I had the best fake ID in college, I never got turned away from a bar." Tony boasted. I let out a snort but tried to cover it up quickly as Tony narrowed his eyes at me warningly. McGee bit back a grin at my reaction. From across the car Ziva turned around from where she was examining the scene and leveled him with a disbelieving stare.

"Never?" she inquired pointedly.

"Never." he insisted defensively. Ziva continued to stare at him.

"Once." Tony grit out.

"Once?" I taunted knowingly. He glared.

"Or twice."

"A month?" Ziva prodded. Tony grit his teeth.

"A week, but listen it was a college town and we went out every night. It was tough there, eagle eyed bouncers and you really had to act the part too." he quickly defended.

"Oh yea they really cracked down up there. I could only get in every other day." I added sarcastically.

"Ok whose side are you on?" he snapped, not enjoying my added quips. I shrugged innocently and lifted the camera up to momentarily blind him with the flash. Tony yelped at the assault to his eyes while I ducked down and got back to work.

"You had to act very mature, worldly, kind of grown up." Tony continued trying to justify himself to Ziva.

"So it wasn't the ID it was you" she commented.

"Are you kidding me no. No I…..I am the master of fake." Tony quickly schooled his emotions not sound so defensive. Ziva smirked in amusement. Before the debate could get any farther along, McGee pulled out the man's bloodied cell phone and checked the call list.

"The last call dialed was 911. The cops will have it on tape." he informed us with a satisfied expression as I snapped some photos of it.

"Maybe this one will be easy." He shrugged hopefully. Hopefully but I doubted it, nothing we did was ever that easy.

...

 **3rd Person POV:**

In interrogation, the mystery driver sat silently across from Gibbs who skimmed through the file on the desk.

"Fake name, fake plates, real weapon, real guy dead." he listed aloud, calmly and quietly staring at the man in front of him. The man sighed in boredom, resting his head on his knuckles while staring at the corner of the table, away from Gibbs.

"When he first saw you, he called 911." Gibbs continued. The man looked up at him but didn't shift from his position.

"When you realized he was trailing you, you shot him." the man shifted slightly, resting on his cheek instead of his forehead.

"Even the very, very good ones….slip up eventually." Gibbs smirked slightly. The man narrowed his eyes at Gibbs and calmly leaned back in his chair, still remaining silent.

"And you Mr…Stevens?" Gibbs smiled in amusement at the name before looking at the man.

"…you're not very good." He finished. The man huffed in amusement.

...

From observation, Ziva watched the man, standing in front of the glass while Tony lounged against the monitors behind her.

"Women want men to lie to them." Tony informed, still trying to justify the whole men are liars thing.

"Not true." She dismissed. Tony looked over at her incredulously.

"Honey, does my butt look big in these pants to you….actually yes, sweetheart your butt looks as big as Alabama. Didn't want to say anything but you got the 'Bama butt going on." Tony monologued a mock conversation. What he didn't notice was that Claire had quietly slipped into the room and was staring at him intently. Listening to his explanation that sounded vaguely familiar.

"You want us to lie to you so we do, especially if your butt is as big as 'bama." He muttered.

"Really now?" Claire chimed in, slowly making her way towards them. Ziva grinned in amusement as Tony's face drained of color.

"So that's what you really think? That our butts are big and we want you to lie about it." She challenged coolly. Ziva rose a brow as she watched Tony's face contort as he thought of how to get his foot out of his mouth.

"No…not that your but is big….I mean not that I've even looked…" Tony nervously backtracked, aware that Ziva was in the room which made things a bit more tricky.

"Liar." Ziva quickly pointed out. Tony groaned in frustration, shooting her a heated glare.

"Ok, I have looked but you know I have never…"

"Never what?" Claire asked tightly. Tony laughed dismissively, pointing at her with a grin. He glanced between the two women nervously.

"Oh no…no…I'm catching onto you two." He chuckled nervously, not wanting to get caught up in the inevitable trap they were setting for him.

"You're going to get me to say something and then have Ziva do her Mossad, true or false trick." Tony explained, vehemently shaking his head to indicate he wasn't falling for it.

"I'm too smart for that." He noted. Ziva laughed.

"Of course you are." She hummed sarcastically. Tony glared at the back of her head. Before he could comment, the door opened and he looked over to see Gibbs walk in to join them. He walked over to stand behind her.

"Ziva?"

"Gibbs?" she asked back. Gibbs smirked.

"How many languages do you speak?" he inquired. Ziva looked over at him curiously. Gesturing for her to follow, Gibbs and Ziva left the room. Once the door had closed Tony quickly reached over to get Claire's attention.

"What was that all about. Are you still on about this morning?" he whispered worriedly.

"You were the one that claimed all women want to hear lies." She countered with a frown.

"I didn't mean that, I was just proving a point." Tony assured with a wince. Claire pursed her lips staring at him intently.

"Do you really believe that I want you to lie to me? Do you lie to me regularly because you think that's what I want to hear?" she inquired seriously, not necessarily talking about this mornings discussion. Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"No, I don't lie to you." Claire rose a brow and quirked her lips, indicating for him to adjust the statement. Tony grinned shaking his head.

"OK I may neglect to add details or simply not tell you things when I can't, but I have never blatantly lied to you." He insisted, staring at her to prove his sincerity. She nodded.

"I know there are times when you can't tell me things, like you're whole deal with Jenny. I get that sometimes it's part of the job so I won't push. I just don't want you to think that I want you to lie to me to keep me happy. I would much rather you be honest and hurt my feelings than lie and let me go on believing something that's not true." Claire elaborated. She didn't want lots of secrets between them, that's not what she wanted in a relationship. She wanted honesty, or as much as you could when dating another agent. Tony nodded in understanding, holding her hands in his own.

"I was just making a point that had nothing to do with you. Honestly." He insisted, pulling her into a hug. Claire however was still a bit self-conscious.

"Then honestly, what was all the fuss this morning. You said you don't lie to me so tell me why you were making a big deal this morning?" she requested, crossing her arms across her chest as she looked up at him. His lips quirked, causing her to frown.

"Honestly…I thought you looked hot." He admitted with a chuckle. Claire's frown deepened.

"So?" she asked, waiting for him to clarify.

"So, I didn't want other men to notice. I mean if I was staring…then any other breathing male would be." Tony explained pointedly. Claire's face cleared up in understanding. She smiled a little before nodding thoughtfully.

"That's stupid." She blurted out, trying not to laugh. Tony grimaced and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"I like to think of it as more romantic, protective, really any other description would do." He pouted. Reluctantly she grinned, sighing in amusement.

"Sure I guess you could say that. I wouldn't ….. but you could." Claire teased. Tony pursed his lips, but bit back a grin. They stepped apart when the door rattled, signifying Gibb's reentry into the room.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

We looked up as Gibbs came back into observation while Ziva was sent into the interrogation room. She sat there quietly for a bit, sorting through some paperwork on her PDA to kill some time. She looked up at the man. speaking French. He stared at her blankly. Gibbs and I watched in front of the window while Tony returned to his previous position, leaning against the monitors.

"Ah French." Tony mused. Ziva spoke another, looking for some indication from the man.

"Und German." He continued. Ziva tried more.

"Italian. Of course." Tony grinned, triumphantly. I glanced at him in amusement. Tony was Italian so duh he would recognize that language.

"Greek?" Tony guessed.

"Arabic." Gibbs corrected.

"Nice boss!" Tony congratulated with gusto, nodding in approval. Ziva tried yet another language. On the last one the man's eyes shifted.

"Bingo. Russian." I grinned. Tony bolted forward to join us by the mirror.

"He looked down and to the left, a sure sign of a liar." He informed Gibbs. I let out a snort, but quickly covered it up when Tony jabbed me with his elbow.

"That's very good DiNozzo." Gibbs nodded, looking at him knowingly.

"Thanks boss." Tony preened under Gibb's praise.

"Did Ziva tell you that?" Gibbs inquired. Tony pursed his lips, glancing away from Gibbs innocently while I finally let out a snicker.

...

Once the man in interrogation was identified as Nicholia Pochenko, who was wanted by homeland security, Gibbs returned to interrogation to take another crack at him. He spoke to the man in Russian, knowing he would understand it. Gibbs got his attention when his name was used. Pochenko lawyered up. Then to add even more mystery to this case, down in autopsy the bullet had disappeared. It had entered Vale's stomach with no exit wound and from there it had disappeared entirely. So that was all we had to go on when Gibbs sent us off to do some research.

...

So now we were up in the bullpen, McGee was pulling up photos on the big screen map while Ziva watched. Tony and I were on our own section of the case, tracking down anything having to do with the name Nicholas Pochenko.

"The 911 call was routed through the cell tower here." McGee pointed out.

"Anyone ever heard of operation Sunburst?" Tony inquired from his desk, his head resting in his hand as he frowned at the screen.

"That puts Vale somewhere around here when he made the call. Anywhere outside of this circle would mean that it was routed through a different cell tower." McGee continued over Tony, coming to stand beside Ziva.

"What year? I haven't gotten anything about it in my records." I asked Tony, frowning at the unfamiliar name.

"Back in '91? Come on anyone, operation Sunburst?" Tony looked over at us all in exasperation, throwing his arms out.

"It's about 3 city blocks.." McGee continued to mutter, ignoring Tony. Tony waved a hand at the two of them dismissively even though they had their backs turned to him. He looked over at me and rolled his eyes dramatically. I grinned in amusement, going back to looking up my own set of records. Gibbs walked in to stand beside the two at the plasma.

"Abby said the signal dropped out, that would probably put him at the outside edge of that tower." Gibbs added, pointing to the areas in question. McGee stared at the map in pleasant surprise.

"That's pretty clever boss, how did you figure that out?" he asked sincerely. Gibbs pursed his lips.

"Too much time around you." He quipped, heading around the man to get to his desk. I watched McGee's face slowly shift into a smile of pride. That was quite a compliment coming from the boss man.

"Boss, operation Sunburst do you know it?" Tony asked, getting his attention. Gibbs changed direction and walked over to stand behind Tony, leaning a little to get a better look at his computer screen.

"It was a sting, one of our ops. Chief Vale was part of it. He was just a PO3 back then, detailed from the supply department to NIS for 5 weeks." Tony read for him.

"Get that file from archives." Gibbs instructed easily.

"Well I can't." Tony frowned. Gibbs turned to give him a look. The one that demanded that what Tony had claimed was not an option. He quickly rephrased the statement.

"Well I mean its impossible boss. I got the index reference but when I called the archives they said the file was missing." Tony explained, Gibbs coming back to stand in his previous spot behind Tony.

"Check the logs, see who booked it out last?" Gibbs suggested. Tony pulled up the logs.

"The CIA…so I guess it's not much a who but more of an it." He rambled thoughtfully.

"Who was the NIS case agent?" As the file picture come up Gibbs sighed in exasperation while Tony grimaced.

"What time is it in Mexico right now?" Tony mused. I smiled wryly, knowing that the case agent must have been Mike Franks.

"Cantina time." Gibbs answered, striding over to make a call at his desk.

...

We all watched curiously as Gibbs chatted with Franks about the case on his desk phone. As he hung up Gibbs sighed heavily, tossing his pen down.

"Have we got a case yet DiNozzo?" he asked wearily.

"Like you said, working on it boss." Tony answered, referencing to what Gibbs had told Franks.

"We narrowed down the area where he was shot and we do have a suspect in possession of a gun." Ziva pointed out.

"That means murder one." McGee added helpfully.

"With a bullet." Tony tacked on to the end of his thought.

"Well technically we don't have the bullet. So it's only a solid case if we can find it." I reminded with a wince. Everyone turned to frown at me, but I couldn't be sorry.

"Someone had to point that out." I offered as an apology. Gibbs nodded in agreement, clenching his jaw tightly as he stared at the files on his desk. We needed to build up a case fast if we wanted to keep Pochenko in our custody.


	8. Chapter 8

[Faking It:2]

 **sorry for the major delay in this story. My life is kinda in the fast lane right now, leaning little to no time to work on my stories. Thanks for sticking with me and hope you enjoy.**

 **...**

 **3rd Person POV:**

The next morning everyone was watching interrogation from the bullpen. Nicholai held up a middle finger to the camera as if knowing that Mike Franks had joined them that morning. Quickly his lawyer beside him yanked his hands down and began talking with the man fervently.

"Same to you Nicholai. Who's that with him?" Franks inquired, watching the interaction.

"Marty Allen, his lawyer." Tony supplied as he leaned against the desk by the monitor.

"I hope he's not a good lawyer." Franks muttered, earning a grin from Claire. Gibbs set down the phone, slipping by the man to take a seat at his desk.

"Enjoy your tour?" he inquired dryly. Franks grinned.

"Oh yeah, this place is like a video arcade." He marveled looking around at all the new gadgets.

"You've got more technology in one room than we had in every office across the whole damn country." He continued as Tony and Ziva returned to their desks.

"Careful, your dating yourself there, Franks." Claire teased. The man turned and grinned at her.

"You can call me Mike sweetheart, and don't worry I can still keep up with the best of them." He teased back with a wink. Claire chuckled in amusement, taking notice of Tony pursing his lips in displeasure. Gibbs ignored them as he clicked on his computer while holding the phone up to his ear.

"Back in my day if I wanted to interrogate someone I would take them into the broom closet with a telephone book." He drawled with a slight grin, pulling out a cig from his coat pocket.

"Yea well no broom closet, no phone directory…..and no smoking." Gibbs lightly scolded, taking the cig out of the man's mouth and holding it out to him. Mike took the cigarette with a distasteful frown.

"Well that's three reasons why I left just in…time.." Franks trailed off as his gaze was drawn to the other end of the room. Over by the windows, Jenny Shepherd had appeared with a man following behind.

"Special Agent Gibbs, may I have a moment?" she asked, but made it obvious that it wasn't really a question; more of a demand. Gibbs slowly put down the phone while he and Franks stared at them silently.

"Good luck gunny." he muttered as Gibbs walked over to join the duo.

"You know that guy?" Claire asked lowly as the older man perched on the edge of her desk. The look he was giving made it obvious that Franks didn't like the stranger with Director Shepherd.

"Yea….like a rat knows a snake." He muttered, staring over at the man who was looking back just as intently.

"Who is he?" she asked on behalf of the others as they tried to subtly watch the interaction in the corner. Not that they were trying to be nosy or anything…just wanting to be well informed.

"Roy Carver, homeland security. Here on behalf of Pochenko no doubt." Mike explained sourly as his eyes narrowed. They all watched as Gibbs and Mr. Carver coolly faced off with one another, their expressions speaking volumes to how they were both trying to gain the upper hand and keep Pochenko. Madame Director watched from between them, trying to remain diplomatic. After a few moments of tense silence Gibbs turned to look back a Mike, who had stood and crossed his arms questioningly. Gibbs licked his lips, evident that he didn't like what was about to happen.

"Ziva, get Pochenko." He ordered tensely. Ziva bit the inside of her cheek but stood anyway, shooting Tony a look which he returned. Tony picked up the phone to call ahead on her behalf. Claire looked up at Franks, who's gaze had dropped to the floor in disappointment. They all knew there wasn't much they could do without proper evidence, but it didn't make this any easier to swallow.

...

Once Ziva had brought Pockenko down, Carver began talking with him. All the while Pochenko was grinning smugly at Franks who was now hunched over behind Tony at his desk.

"If he walks out now, you won't ever see him again." He muttered lowly, eyeing the arms dealer.

"Any evidence you have won't be worth spit." Mike added pointedly. Tony clenched his jaw, frowning at the duo.

"We haven't got enough evidence to even clear our throat. We can't charge him with anything." Tony countered sourly. Mike stood, realizing he wasn't going to be able to get any backup from the young man. He straightened his coat and made his way over to where Carver was signing some paperwork concerning the transfer with Director Shepherd. Claire eyed him skeptically has he strode over, sharing a curious frown with Tony.

"Director, may I draw your attention to an NIS case code named Sunburst." Mike easily inquired. Carver's head shot up at the name.

"Which dealt with serious accounts of arms smuggling by this man, Pochenko." Mike continued, everyone in the room watching the interaction intently.

"I'm aware of the case Mr. Franks." Jenny countered coolly.

"As I recall, that file was lost." Roy Carver pointed out.

"I made a copy, Roy." Mike told him with a grin.

"Jake Vale was the key witness, he's dead. you don't have anyone to testify." Carver countered, his face dropping a little.

"I was the case agent, I'll testify." Mike eagerly told Director Shepherd.

"Serious enough charges for you Director Shepherd?" Gibbs innocently inquired from behind her. Jenny nodded minutely, and tilted her head to make eye contact with Ziva.

"Take him back into custody." she instructed. Pochenko and his lawyer began making rapid protests as Ziva reached for the man and began cuffing him once more. The director swiftly turned and snatched the paperwork out of Mr. Carver's hands.

"I'm sorry Mr. Carver, NCIS is not through with this man." She halfheartedly apologized while Franks watched with a grin.

"Homeland security looks forward to viewing the file." Carver coolly told them, displeased with this sudden turn of events.

"This is an outrage." Mr. Allen, Pochenko's lawyer, cut in as Tony stood to help control the raging Pochenko.

"I strongly protest due to poor mistreatment of my client." He shrieked, but was ignored. As Tony and Ziva dragged the struggling man away, Pochenko began screaming angrily in Russian at Franks who was still grinning.

"What did he just say?" Director Shepherd inquired, already having a pretty good idea of what was being shouted.

"He said you're a dead man, Mike." Claire informed, her and Gibbs shooting a look at the man. Franks shrugged, the smug grin still plastered on his face.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

"We're taking Pochenko's threat to kill Mike seriously so right now this is who we have to worry about" Gibbs informed all of us, as we were gathered around the screen by Gibb's desk. The threatened man himself was sitting in Gibb's chair, looking amused at the whole situation. I shook my head in amusement, he wasn't fazed at all.

"McGee?" Gibbs signaled for Tim to take the lead on information regarding the man in the photos he was showing.

"Archadi Machilovish Kobatch." McGee introduced, now reading off the file he had pulled.

"In the late 40's he served with Pochenko in the Sped Snaz. That's the soviet special forces. First Afghanistan then Chechnya." he listed off. Tony stood behind Franks, chewing on some gum as he listened. Standing beside him, I could hear Tony popping he gum in his mouth rapidly. It quickly grew annoying within the first few seconds. I slowly turned to glare at him. Tony paused before grinning sheepishly at me and chewing like a normal person….silently.

"In 1990 Archadi executed 3 clerks in payroll office because they could not pay his men. Then he shot the colonel who came to arrest him. Been dealing arms ever since." McGee summarized, handing the papers to Gibbs.

"I want a 24 hour protection detail. DiNozzo you're team leader." Gibbs announced, passing along the files.

"You're in safe hands Mike." Tony assured.

"I've seen your hands DiNozzo, they don't impress me." Mike quipped in his gravelly voice. Tony shot me a deadpan look as I snorted quietly at the retort. I quickly glanced away, the files in my hand suddenly looking very interesting.

"I don't need babysitting, Gunny. I can look after myself." Mike protested to Gibbs.

"After spending 4 months in that crap hole you call a house out in Baha? I find that highly debatable." Gibbs shot back, paying no mind to the offended look Franks shot him.

"Safe house boss?" Tony inquired.

"Yup, mine." Gibbs answered, not looking up from his work. Mike looked between the two of them, frowning as the conversation continued around him.

"Make yourself at home Tony." Gibbs added.

"Won't touch a thing boss." Tony assured wryly, knowing that Gibbs was fully sarcastic in that offer.

"Boss, Ducky found a bullet." McGee piped up, hanging up his desk phone. Gibbs quickly made his way towards the elevator, the rest of us following after. However, just before I left the office area I glanced around and noticed that Mike was no longer with us. Turning around I quickly spotted the retreating man and rushed over towards him, yanking him back by the collar of his jacket. Franks grunted in surprise and reluctantly followed behind me, grumbling under his breath.

"You know, I like my women feisty." He quipped as we began to join the rest of the team. I rolled my eyes but grinned none the less.

"Then you're going to love me." I joked, making sure to keep a half a step behind him just in case he decided to bolt again. Franks chuckled, heading into the elevator and me following close behind.

...

Down in autopsy the we were all lined up, leaning against an empty autopsy table.

"It's very interesting where bullets can end up, I once found a slug in a woman's knee when she was shot in the chest." Ducky rattled on as he washed up and headed our direction. Tony and I shared wary glances, not overly excited to find out where the bullet had ended. If Ducky was setting up his stories this meeting wasn't going to be pleasant….once he eventually got to the point. Gibbs contained a sigh, obviously following my train of thought.

"See, the bullet entered her heart, was pumped down through the aorta, into the iliac and on down to the femoral artery. Extraordinary." Ducky explained. He glanced up and was met with varying expressions. Tony had his lips pursed in mild disgust, McGee slightly interested, Ziva was staring blankly, while I was frowning uncomfortably, just wishing he would finish already.

"So, the bullet is in his knee?" Tony assumed as to why we were hearing this story.

"No, no heavens no. That's much too easy and anyway it would have shown up on the x-rays." Ducky quickly dismissed.

"So where is it?" Ziva inquired.

"I have no idea, none at all." Ducky answered….What?...

"You said you found it." I pointed out with a frown.

"Well I have but I just don't know where. I can however, tell you how." Ducky elaborated, walking over to the body on the table.

"It was Abby who gave me the idea when she said that she would be sick to her stomach if she ever lost evidence. Sick, that's the key word." Ducky began. We all waited patiently for him to continue.

"So I had Abby run some tests of material I got from his esophagus. We found traces of protein pepsin, along with all sorts of other things such as sulfide, oleic acids…" as Ducky continued listing off compounds, our stares morphed into confused expressions.

"…but the smoking gun so to speak was the presence of Triticum durum." Ducky announced and made his way to another table.

"Pasta?" Ziva asked in surprise. I glanced over, mildly impressed.

"Specifically spaghetti, cooked with garlic and olive oil." Ducky nodded as he looked over the chart of compounds.

"Spaghetti io-e-oil as the Romans used to say. Very nice with a glass of Sangavesi." Ducky told us with a wistful smile before jolting out of his musings.

"Anyway, anyway, when the bullet lodged in his stomach he became sick. What you may call, projectile vomiting."

"He puked up the bullet?" Tony deadpanned.

"Yes, and when you find the puke you'll find the projectile." Ducky informed us easily. I grimaced as the implications fully dawned on me.

"So…you want us to look for a dried up pile of vomit?" I asked warily.

"Yes and I'll need a generous sample so I can positively compare it to the sample form the victim." Ducky grinned, as if none of that task was disgusting.

"Of course you do." I muttered under my breath. McGee turned his head, his lip quirking in amusement.

"Oh and of course I'll need the bullet." Ducky added, moving to pat Tony on the shoulder as he grimaced in distaste, much like the rest of us. We all looked up warily as Gibbs approached, no doubt ready to deal out that task. He stood in front of Tony and I, the two of us wincing. Please no, please no.

"Claire…." Oh this is it, I'm on puke duty…

"…stay here and run some searches for me." I slowly let out the breath I had been holding.

"Ziva….McGee get onto it." He looked between them.

"Well boss we have it narrowed down to a few city blocks." McGee told him nervously.

"Vale was still on foot when he was shot or he would have gotten sick in the car." Ziva added.

"So somewhere near a garage or a parking lot, that narrows it down." McGee nodded thoughtfully.

"Then go." Gibbs made a shooing motion with his hand. Tony and I shared a low high five before he eagerly patted the unlucky two on the shoulder as they walked past, beaming that he wasn't chosen for puke duty. I smiled, looking over to see what Frank's reaction would be to all this when the frown dropped off my face. Gibbs paused beside Tony and leaned in towards him.

"Where is Mike?" he asked pointedly, voicing what I had noticed. Tony's eyes widened as he bolted up from his position, spinning around wildly to find the missing man. He faced Gibbs, his mouth gaping for an explanation.

"I thought you were supposed to be protecting him." Gibbs glowered.

"I was…I mean I…he was right here." Tony stuttered as he jogged to catch up with Gibbs and I in the elevator.

...

Reaching our floor, Tony instantly bolted towards the office.

"He couldn't have gone far boss." He assured.

"Don't count on it" Gibbs muttered, glancing around. I followed after Tony to check our bullpen area.

"How do you lose a grown man." I muttered teasingly. Tony huffed, running a frantic hand through his hair.

"I swear he was standing right next to me!" he groaned. I chuckled at his distress and lightly reached out to grab his hand in comfort.

"It'll be fine. We'll find him." I softly assured him. Letting out a breath Tony sighed, smiling slightly.

"Why don't we split up, I'll go the left and you head right and after we circle the offices then we can meet back here." I laid out for him. Tony nodded before squeezing my hand and bolting down the hallways, shouting for Franks. As I turned to check my designated section, a tuft of smoke caught my eye behind the stairs. I grinned, knowing that the search was over. Calmly walking around the corner of the stairs I was met by Gibbs and a disgruntled Franks, now that his cigarette had been confiscated. Franks huffed out a growl.

"So much for privacy." He halfheartedly glowered at me. Before I could retort, Tony came bounding around the corner, sagging in relief.

"I found him!" he shouted to the room, spotting Mike standing off to the side of the stairs. Franks smirked in amusement as Tony had yet to notice Gibbs and I along the wall beside him.

"Nice work DiNozzo." Mike dryly commented. Tony's grin dropped, and he whipped his head to the side, just now taking notice that we were leaning against the wall. I bit my lip while Gibbs nodded at him silently. Tony chuckled in embarrassment.

...

 **3rd Person POV:**

Tony was patrolling around the outside of Gibb's house, keeping an eye on the perimeter as Mike Franks was inside. As he slips by into a small side ally, he turns and spots his charge outside smoking on the back patio.

"You're supposed to be inside the house, Mike." Tony scolds.

"Nice catch, I must be getting sloppy." The man retorted thoughtfully.

"Well I smelled the cigarette smoke." Tony pointed out sarcastically, nodding towards the object in Mike's hand.

"I can smoke inside if you want." Mike suggested, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Tony dismissed.

"Nope." Franks agreed. Tony's head shot to the side as he heard a twig snap. He frowned, not spotting anything and picked up his cell as it began ringing.

"Oh, hey boss we were just talking about you." Tony greeted.

"Claire are you online?" Gibbs asked first off.

 **"Online and en route to the safe house."** Her voice chimed in, Tony noted the sound of the car in the background as she was driving to relieve Tony from his shift.

"We've got a security problem, time to go off script. Where's Franks?" Gibbs asked, the other two keying in on his urgent tone.

"Well he's right…" Tony began but froze as Mike had disappeared. He quickly pulled out his gun and slipped up the side of the house.

"Mike?...Mike?" suddenly a hand shot out and pistol whipped Tony in the back of the head, sending him clattering onto the pavement.

"Tony?...DiNozzo?...Tony!?" Gibbs shouted, hearing the clatter and no response.

"Claire.."

 **"On it."** She quickly cut him off, stepping on the accelerator as she sped down the streets towards the safe house.

...

Arriving outside, Claire threw the car in park before darting towards the house. Drawing her gun as she ran towards the back she quickly glanced around, moving quietly to listen for any intruders that might still be around. She saw Tony sprawled out on the patio. Dashing over she quickly checked for a pulse, sighing when she found it. He was fine just out cold. Pushing aside her worry she made her way inside, knowing she had to clear the house before she could dote on the man outside. Finding it completely empty she went back outside to rouse him. She knelt down and rolled him over, tapping his face lightly.

"Tony? Tony can you hear me?" Claire gently called, not wanting to be loud in case he had a concussion. Tony groaned pitifully, his face twisting into a frown. Claire grinned down at him fondly, feeling sorry for his pain.

"Come on hon, I need you to open your eyes for me." She cooed, kneeling down closer to his face. Tony blearily blinked his eyes, trying to find the source of the noise. Claire grinned, seeing his eyes focus in on her.

"Hey, how's your head?" she inquired, lifting up his eyelids to check his pupils.

"Pounding a little right now." He admitted with a wince. As she continued to check him over, Tony grinned up at her goofily.

"What's the matter with you?" she inquired, staring down at him in amusement.

"You're pretty." He chuckled, clearly happy with himself. Claire blinked, her amusement still evident.

"Oh honey you must have hit your head hard to be spouting stuff like that right now." She snickered. Tony pouted.

"Can you kiss it and make it better?" he inquired, blinking up at her innocently. She grinned, leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

At the house Tony was getting the back of his head checked by a female paramedic while Gibbs and I stood by, watching the other agents comb over the area for any evidence we could use to find Mike.

"Did I lose any hair?" I heard Tony ask teasingly, getting the woman to giggle.

"No." she assured as she checked his hairline for cuts. I already did that but whatever, she wouldn't take my word for it. Something about wanting to do her job right, but I didn't buy it.

"How is he?" Gibbs asked her, taking the girl's attention off of Tony.

"He'll live."

"Well I've been hit harder boss….by you." Tony weakly quipped from his spot on the stair. Gibbs glanced around the yard.

"How many where there?" he asked, turning to Tony.

"I didn't see, got taken out pretty quick from behind." Gibbs turned to me.

"I arrived at the house in less than 30 seconds. But by that time, they were already gone." I added.

"With Mike?" Gibbs added, kneeling at eye level with the Tony who sighed. He hated disappointing Gibbs.

"It must have been two teams. One to take me down and one to grab Mike." He suggested. Meanwhile Gibbs reached up and lifted his eyelids, double checking for any sign of concussion in concern. I smiled inwardly at how much Tony was getting fawned over by all these people.

"Whoever did it, they were good. Sorry boss." Tony muttered. Gibbs simply nodded.

"So why grab him when all they had to do was kill him?" I inquired.

"He was holding evidence."

"Where?"

"He wouldn't tell me." Gibbs answered pointedly.

"Well I guess you didn't hold a blowtorch to his eyeballs to find out. These guys will." Tony muttered with a frown. Gibbs turned to answer the phone, keeping it brief before hanging up.

"Jenny?" Tony inquired worriedly. At the use of the director's first name Gibbs frowned thoughtfully while I gave him a curios glance. Tony never used her first name in front of Gibbs. The man slowly knelt down to Tony's level, Tony paling as he realized what he had said.

"Jenny? Just how cozy did you two get while I was away?" Gibbs inquired with a serious undertone. Tony chuckled and grin, pushing away his nervousness. I guess everyone but Gibbs was aware of how often Tony was called into the Director's office while he was in Mexico. Gibbs grinned along with him, none to amused.

"Boy that knock to the head must have been harder than I thought because now I'm saying crazy things that I don't even understand." Tony redirected, still chuckling nervously.

"Do you think she's single?" Tony inquired nodding his head towards the paramedic behind him. I shot Tony a deadpan stare, getting him to pale even more. Gibbs nodded thoughtfully.

"He's fine." he assured the woman who frowned as he left.

"For now." I warned lowly. Tony turned and grinned childishly up at me.

"I just keep digging myself into big holes today don't I?" he pointed out. I nodded.

"More than usual."

...

 **3rd Person POV** :

Back at NCIS, Tony waited outside the interrogation room where Pochenko and his lawyer were in discussion once more. They had called the lawyer back so they could have another crack at Pockenko but the man took longer than they would have liked to arrive. Gibbs swiftly made his way towards the door.

"Hey, what kept him?" he asked Tony, who straightened up off the wall.

"Business" He muttered the excuse that was given him. Gibbs scoffed.

"God, I hate lawyers." He muttered sourly as he entered, Tony holding the door for him and shutting it once Gibbs was inside. Both men turned their attention to Gibbs who sat across from them. Mr. Allen was the first to speak up.

"I demand that you release my client agent Gibbs. You've got no grounds to hold him, your key witness has disappeared…you have no case." The man smugly pointed out. Gibbs nodded minutely.

"You're right I don't have a case against your client….for arms dealing." The tone instantly put Nicholai on edge as he stared at Gibbs warily. Gibbs pulled up a small vial to show them.

"But I do have one for murder." He added, as the missing bullet was displayed to them. Both Nicholai and Mr. Allen shifted in their seats, facing away from Gibbs to have their own discussion. Meanwhile Gibbs turned away from them to send a look towards his agents in the observation area.

"We deserve a medal." McGee muttered sourly to, voicing his displeasure at taking on puke duty.

"That look is as close as you're gonna get Probie." Tony informed him. McGee nodded in agreement as Tony wasn't wrong. Claire leaned in towards Ziva.

"You made McGee do the searching right?"

"Of course." Ziva assured with a mild shutter.

"Good. I would have done the same." Claire assured with a grin. The two of them shared a smirk as their attention was drawn back to the next room.

...

In interrogation, Gibbs regained control of the conversation.

"Nicholai you have a choice. You can spend the rest of your life in prison or you can cut a deal." Gibbs informed the man, getting his head to perk up from where it had been resting in his hand.

"And you can tell me where to find your friend, Archadi." Gibbs inquired, letting the man think about his options.

...

Getting the information from Pochenko, Gibbs and Tony led the raid as they busted down the door to the house they were directed to. The agents quickly cleared the house, before lowering their guard and surveying it. On the tables were a variety of cigarettes and vodka.

"Smokes from Russian cigarettes. Archadi hasn't been gone long." Ziva pointed out. McGee quickly took place by the landline and began hooking it up to his computer to trace the calls.

"Come on double time." Gibbs muttered anxiously.

"Ok we're on. 10 calls made in the last day, 3 in the last hour and a half. first was to a cellphone, Barty Allen."

"Business my ass." Claire muttered with a growl, knowing that had been what the man was actually doing while they waited on him to arrive.

"Second was to merchant bank. And the last was to a hotel by port 7, El Executive hotel, room 7." Mcgee listed out.

"Mexican hotel. Names and numbers McGee, starting with the hotel." Gibbs ordered as he led Tony and Ziva out of the house and off towards the hotel.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

"Are you sure?" I asked over the phone as we pulled up by the hotel.

"Yes, the manager said that room 7 was under the name of Camilla Charro but it wasn't a woman. It was some old guy." McGee relayed. Yup that sure sounded like Franks. I told Gibbs before promptly hanging up and sliding out of the car. Making our way to room 7 we quickly swept the small hotel room, again finding it empty. On the nightstand was an ashtray full of cigs.

"Frank's brand." Tony muttered. I watched as Gibbs picked up a Cantina menu, eying the small figure drawing underneath it.

"You three split up and cover this floor and the lobby, I'll take the rest of the lower level." Gibbs quickly instructed before taking off. Something felt a little off about this, but we didn't protest. Gibbs and Franks worked on their own wavelength and often it was better not to ask questions. After clearing the upper levels, Tony and Ziva and I met back up in the lobby. However, before we could compare notes we heard gunshots coming from inside the Cantina. Knowing Gibbs was in there, and most likely Franks, we quickly made our way over, guns drawn.

"Boss?" Tony called out from the other side of the door.

"Clear." Gibbs announced, his voice a little tense. The three of us entered eyeing Frank and Gibbs as well as the two Russians dead on the floor. It was oddly convenient.

"Secure the room." Gibbs ordered, before following Franks outside. The task didn't take us very long and soon we were left to wait for the others to arrive. I glanced out the window to see Gibbs and Franks talking. Sighing I took a seat at the bar.

"Anyone going to say anything about how we conveniently found Archadi and his associate dead? At the same time finding Franks?" Ziva piped up in the silence. Tony and I shared a glance.

"Nope." I told her, eyeing the set of beers that were left on the counter. I reached over and grabbed the newly opened one, smiling a little to feel that it was still cold. Ziva eyed me with a frown.

"Technically our case is done and I would hate to waste cold beer. Care to join me?" I offered, sliding one over to Tony who I knew would take one. Ziva continued to frown. However, I wore her down with my pleading eyes and she joined the two of us at the bar. The case had ended a little differently than we had anticipated but all in a days work I guess


	9. Chapter 9

[Witch Hunt:1]

 **...**

 **3rd Person POV:**

Tony plopped into his chair, fidgeting for a moment before reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out wads of paper. Across the way Ziva was scanning her face in a compact mirror. Tony turned and began tossing the paper into McGee's wastebasket, cheering quietly as he made the shots. He looked over and frowned at Ziva who was still primping in her mirror.

"You're not planning on leaving early are ya?" he inquired, getting back to his game.

"And if I am?" she hummed.

"I wouldn't advise it. Do you know what today is?" Tony pointed out. Ziva closed the compact.

"Tuesday." She answered easily.

"It's Halloween Ziva. It's an American holiday…"

"I know. The wearing of silly outfits and begging for treats. I would imagine it's a DiNozzo national holiday?" she inquired teasingly. Tony stared at her unamused.

"Well you imagine wrong, I don't do Halloween." He deadpanned. They both looked up as the elevator dinged, revealing Claire rushing out of it. Tony straightened up and frowned in confusion as she entered wearing a trench coat. He pursed his lips and tried to peer over his desk to get a hint as to what she was wearing under the coat but all he saw were tall lace up combat boots. That got him nowhere.

"She does." Tony pointed out as Claire made her way past them.

"I do what?" she inquired, rushing over to rummage through her desk. Tony's head tilted wistfully as he watched her bend at the waist. But that damn trench coat didn't give away anything.

"Celebrate Halloween….why aren't you at that party already. I thought Gibbs gave you the go ahead to party with Abby?" he inquired.

"I forgot my gun." She pointed out, placing it in the holster on her thigh with her back towards him. Tony's eyebrows rose sky high at the placement, but he still couldn't see what she was wearing.

"Why don't you do Halloween? Your father again?" Ziva inquired, getting back to their conversation. She smirked at Tony's surprised head jerk, as if he totally forgot she was even there. Claire proved to be quite the distraction.

"I don't do Halloween ever since I became a cop. Weird things always happen on October 31st." Tony informed Ziva.

"Thus, the gun. There's bound to be some kinky stuff going on." Claire agreed, grabbing her badge to slide on her belt.

"Define weird." Ziva whispered curiously. Tony stood, slowly making his way to McGee's desk to pick up the wads of paper that missed the basket.

"Grave robberies, beheadings, cattle mutilations…"

"Staking fake vampires, moonlight matings.." Tony bolted upright.

"Matings?...you mean.." Claire smirked devilishly.

"Oh yea. Wanna be werewolves are very kinky." She told him with a grin, knowing his head was practically exploding.

"..and McGee, turning fuzzy and blue." Tony commented as he spotted McGee walking in to join them, buttoning his shirt over part of a costume. The agents all turned to stare at him as he come to his desk. Tim paused and looked around at them uncomfortably.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"What's under your shirt?" Ziva asked pointedly.

"My t-shirt." McGee deflected.

"Okay, he's lying." Claire grinned.

"Oh yea" Tony snickered in agreement. He glanced down to look in the back next to McGee's desk.

"Oh yea!" he laughed in delight, spotting the furry blue pieces of a costume inside. He quickly snatched the bag before McGee could, laughing tauntingly. McGee sighed in exasperation, knowing he wasn't going to live this down for a while. Tony pulled out a hat with ears and tossed it towards Ziva who placed it on her head.

"I know you play a fairy on that online game but…dressing up as one?" Tony mused, looking at Ziva's new pointy hat.

"Why are you picking on me?! Claire's the one in the trench coat, what about what she has under there?" McGee sputtered, trying to save face.

"Sorry McGee I don't think we have reached that level in our relationship." Claire teased, McGee rolling his eyes.

"That's not what I meant. What's really under the coat?" he pressed, gaining Tony and Ziva's interest as well. Claire smirked.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours…" she rose her brows challengingly. However, McGee flushed and she knew she had won. He wasn't about to show them his full costume.

"Really….why are you blue?" she asked with a grin.

"It's a snow elf and I'm going to a costume party ok?" McGee defended. Ziva pulled out her compact and examined the accessory on her head.

"It's far from okay probay.." Tony sighed mysteriously, putting the elf shoes on his hands. Claire gave him a weird look but couldn't help but grin.

"You know when Tony said furry and blue, I was kinda hoping for Beast from x-men. This is a disappointment." she chimed in, wincing at the furry costume. McGee looked over at her in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yea I mean you're smart so fits the bill, and Beast would be less lame." She shrugged.

"She has a point there probie, and I might have approved of that costume but this…. I would say this is taking geek one step beyond." Tony muttered.

"Oh sadly I would have to agree. I suddenly felt all the respect leave my body as soon as I put this on." Ziva snickered, looking back over at the boys.

"Well normally you would be right, but you haven't yet met my ice queen." McGee returned, gesturing for the girls to come over and join them at his desk. Tony hummed, resting his face against the furry shoes while Claire eagerly bounded over to stand behind McGee who began to pull up photos on his computer.

"You've got to be kidding me." Tony snickered, however his laugh died off as McGee brought up photos of a very pretty, fit, blonde girl.

"And I'll also mention she's a Redskins cheerleader." he puffed up proudly.

"Oh impressive." Ziva nodded.

"Nicely done McGee." Claire complimented.

"That's a very hot woman, how did you meet her?" Tony asked in shock, before jerking his head back towards her photos.

"At the Armani store. Found out we played on the same gaming server together." McGee informed smugly. Tony stared at the man incredulously.

"Since when can you afford Armani?" he questioned, reaching out with his shoe covered hands and pulling pack McGee's suit jacket to find a label. Claire swatted his hands away scoldingly.

"Leave the man alone." she hissed gently.

"Gear up!" they heard Gibbs walking into the area. In a panic, the agents quickly scrambled to look normal however it didn't pay off. Gibbs did a double take as he walked past, before staring at them curiously. McGee with his fuzzy blue undershirt, Tony trying to hide the fuzzy shoes while crossing his arms, Claire in trench coat, and Ziva with an elf hat on her head. Gibbs blinked at them.

"Oh my god." Ziva muttered in a panic, ripping the hat off her head.

"They're McGee's." She quickly explained. Gibbs turned to McGee.

"Well I was going to a costume party later tonight." he muttered in explanation. Gibbs then turned to look at Claire.

"I was already supposed to be at a costume party with Abby." She shrugged. Gibbs licked his lips and nodded.

"Well you're not anymore." Claire deflated in a pout.

"General Custard was shot, and he's got a dead skeleton in his living room." Gibbs informed them.

"What did I tell you. Halloween." Tony muttered pointedly.

"Do I get a chance to at least change?"

"Nope, let's go." Gibbs quickly shot down Claire's request. With a sigh she headed over to her desk to grab her go back.

"Tell me honestly…. Are you here to flash me?" Tony purred from just behind her. Claire stood giving him a glare.

"Don't make me shoot you." She threatened before following the others, Tony grinning widely as he trailed just behind her.

"I knew it." he teased. Claire couldn't fight the grin slowly working its way onto her face.

"Shut up, Tony."

...

The crime scene took place in a suburban neighborhood that was still crawling with kids and adults in costumes. McGee was chatting nervously with his 'ice queen', telling her he had to cancel.

"W..wait Sherry…what about next weekend…but it's not my fault." He frantically tried to reason with her. The other three shared a look as he rounded the van where they were loading their gear.

"Oh my poor little McGee. I'm sure they'll be more ice queens online." Ziva halfway consoled as McGee hung up his cell dejectedly. Tony handed Tim a bag.

"She's right. Of course they won't be Redskins cheerleaders and they'll probably weigh a few hundred pounds." He added with a grin. Claire snickered.

"And there's a good chance many of them are actually men. But you know how it is." She chimed in.

"Anything can happen." Tony whispered with a grin as Gibbs joined them.

"The guy dressed as Custard is staff sergeant Eric Niles. The Leos are looking for his wife and daughter. Blood trail leads from his house to the neighbor's house who called it in. Tony, Ziva take her statement. McGee, Claire start processing the sergeant's house. Oh, and there's a dead john doe in there dressed like a skeleton." Gibbs directed the team.

"That's totally normal." Claire muttered sarcastically, earning a grin from the rest of the team. As they were about to disperse Ducky and Palmer pulled up in the autopsy van, however it had multiple eggs smashed across the windshield.

"What happened to them?" Ziva questioned in surprise.

"Halloween." Was Tony's answer.

"I'm sorry we're late but we had a minor run in with some local youths." Ducky explained, looking distastefully at the egged vehicle.

"Yea I can see that doctor." Gibbs mused.

"Did you get a good look at them?" McGee inquired.

"Oh we did better than that. Release the captive's Mr. Palmer." Ducky turned towards the van and Palmer opened the side door to reveal two teens dressed as ninjas.

"Are we in trouble?"

"Where are we at?"

"We said we're sorry." The boys muttered as they were lead out of the van. The agents watched in amusement.

"Right. Clean it." Ducky demanded of them, handing them glass cleaner and paper towels. The teens groaned.

"Nice work Palmer." Tony nodded approvingly.

"Oh, it wasn't me Tony. Dr. Mallard chased them for three blocks." Palmer nodded toward the older man with a grin.

"Oh please, it's not that impressive." Ducky shrugged off.

"It's not as if they were real ninjas." He added pointedly. The agents chuckled before dispersing to their directed houses.

"Sexy Sherlock Holmes?" Tony guessed, eyeing her coat once more. He had made it his goal to figure out her costume.

"Would that make you Watson?" she inquired innocently.

"Do you want me to be?" He hummed, his eyes lighting up deviously. Claire smirked.

"Kinky, and probably a little fun. But no….the trench coat has nothing to do with the costume." She informed him before walking off, being sure to sway her hips more than necessary. Tony groaned, watching her go as his mind went mad with ideas. Shaking his head, he turned to walk the other direction.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Over at the Staff Sergeant's house, McGee was snapping photographs of the blood splatter across the wall, while I was going around marking evidence. The glass coffee table had been shattered and across from the splatter was a dead 'skeleton', or the john doe.

"Well that's not creepy." McGee muttered as he snapped pictures of the body.

"It is Halloween. Creepy comes with the package." I hummed. McGee grinned and snapped photos of the shell casings while and the blood droplet trail heading towards the door. Once I had finished marking, I made my way over to the evidence duffel to pull out gloves and some baggies. McGee soon joined me.

"Aren't you warm?" he asked innocently. But I knew better.

"I'm not taking off the coat McGee so drop it now." I warned, not bothering to look up from what I was doing. McGee shrugged.

"Just curious." He defended with a chuckle.

"Be curious all you want, this coat is not coming off in public." McGee paused, eyeing me thoughtfully.

"It's a bit slutty isn't it?" he deadpanned with a grin. I scoffed, my eyebrows practically touching my hairline.

"Wh…McGee, how dare…..yea a little." I finally relented, grinning at the knowing stare he was giving me. We chuckled before standing up to return to the crime scene. However, we froze when we looked at the changes. The shell casings were missing, the marker knocked over and the blood spots had been smeared. The scene had been tampered with in the few seconds we had our backs turned. We both reached for our guns and silently glanced around for any areas of quick access to the living room. How had this happened? There were two agents in here and we weren't so loud as to cover up someone moving around in here. We tiptoed around the room, trying to figure out what happened when the door swung open behind us. On instinct we both whipped around, guns trained on the intruder. After a split second I had to force myself to relax once I realized who it was.

"Palmer." McGee growled, trying to calm his racing heart. You can't just sneak up on people like this on Halloween.

"Is everything alright." Jimmy asked innocently. I reached over and smacked him on the arm. Palmer flinched, staring at me as if I had lost my mind.

"What was that for?" he squawked, rubbing the injured area.

"Are you trying to get shot." I questioned, staring at the man incredulously.

"Um..no." he quickly denied, clearly confused as to what was going on. Palmer glanced between the two of us, eyeing our tensed forms questioningly.

"There's someone in this room." McGee elaborated.

"You mean besides the dead skeleton guy." he commented, his eyes wide. I stared at him for a moment. Sometimes Jimmy wasn't the brightest bulb in the room.

"Yes, besides the dead skeleton guy." I reiterated. Palmer shuffled forward to look around the entryway but found nothing, just like McGee and I.

...

After calling the rest of the team over, they swept the house but found nothing and no one else. Much to McGee and I's embarrassment.

"Basement's clear boss." Tony informed as he came back upstairs. Gibbs turned on the lamp.

"Look I know what I saw. Someone policed the brass and tried to wipe up the blood." McGee explained. This was ridiculous, the evidence was gone and it wasn't us. So obviously someone else had to have taken it.

"Who, the crime scene fairies? There's no one here." Tony pointed out mockingly. McGee sent him an exasperated look. However, I took the more mature approach.

"Mmmmeh the cwime scene fairies.." I mocked childishly under my breath. Tony sent me a glare.

"Get Ducky in here, we're wasting time." Gibbs muttered to Tony who nodded, sending me one last glance before walking out.

"Look boss I'm sorry but I swear there…"

"What do you make of this McGee?" Gibbs asked instead, gesturing to the room as a whole. No sense worrying about it just yet, we still had time to find the missing evidence.

"Well there's obvious signs of a struggle. One dead assailant, not sure how he got his head that way." he pointed out, looking over at the awkward angle of john doe's head.

"You're not? Come on let me show you on the floor." Gibbs ushered, tugging McGee over by his jacket. I shot my hand up excitedly.

"Oh, can I demonstrate!" I asked with a grin. Gibbs turned, his eyes glittering with amusement as he gestured for me to grab McGee.

"Wow Tony did tell me how you like to demonstrate technique…." McGee muttered uncomfortably as I set him flat on the ground, kneeling over him. His face burned as readjusted my straddle.

"Yea you guys talk about that?" I asked teasingly, causing him to blush more. Thankfully Gibbs ignored my quip.

"You learn by feeling McGee." Gibbs instructed. Meanwhile I tucked my arms around McGee's neck and head while hovering over top of his torso.

"This is how marines silence enemy snipers. 66 pounds of pressure and then…SNAP!" I illustrated, McGee's head snapping sideways without me actually putting pressure on it. McGee blinked wide eyes.

"So, staff sergeant Niles went down fighting." he muttered as I still had my hands squished on McGee's face. All three of us looked over and examined the blood spatter in relation to the body.

"See, the blood spatter on the wall." Gibbs pointed out, already walking over. I stood up and held out a hand to McGee to help him up. Gibbs positioned himself kneeling next to the corpse, the blood spatter on the ball behind.

"He was right about where I am now. The bullet impacted…" he mused, gesturing to his neck.

"That means the shooter was over here somewhere." I stood over next to where the shell casings once were, lining up the shot.

"This is where the brass is…. Or was." I pointed out.

"So, two assailants." McGee realized.

"At least." Gibbs nodded in confirmation. Ducky and Palmer maneuvered around us to reach the body and we cleared out a bit to give them room.

"Well the cause of death seems pretty obvious, but you never know. I once had a case where a man who died of heart failure had an ice pick plunged into his skull four hours after his time of death. His wife discovered that she had been left out of his will." Ducky regaled as he examined the body.

"Nothing like a woman scorned." I grinned. Ducky chuckled, nodding in agreement.

"Good news boss, a kid saw a car leaving about the time of the shooting. Ziva is getting a description from him now." Tony announced as he entered the house. I watched as Ducky maneuvered the man's neck back upright, but it made a crackling noise, sending a shutter up my spine. Suddenly Tony shouted in alarm, spazzing out. His jump caused me to jump, my heart leaping into my throat as I was the one closest to him. I froze, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Something just touched my foot….something's under the couch." He whispered nervously, not daring to move an inch.

"Well maybe it's the crime scene fairy, Tony." McGee quipped.

"Shut up." Tony snapped with a glare, his nerves on edge. We all stood around, watching Tony as he attempted to compose himself.

"Someone should look and see what it is." I quietly suggested, eyeing the couch. Tony and I stared at one another for a moment.

"NOT IT!"

"NOT…damn it." Tony growled as I beat him to the punch.

"I hate Halloween." he grimaced, kneeling down next to the couch. Attempting to lift the curtain over the bottom of the couch Tony kept flinching away in fear. Finally, he was able to grasp it and look underneath the couch. Something moved across his vision, causing him to yelp and jump back up in fear. Moments later a small cleaning circle whirled out from underneath. Realizing it was harmless, Tony plopped onto the couch, holding his head in his hands from embarrassment and the racing of his heart. I couldn't help myself and chuckled quietly at him. Tony shot me a scathing glare from behind his fingers and I stepped closer to pat him soothingly on the back.

"Hey it's a rumba. It's a robot vacuum cleaner with navigational sensors to clean the floor while the owners away." McGee explained, watching it scoot across the living room silently.

"Yes, and your rumba is about to interfere with your crime scene." Ducky pointed out. Gibbs walked over and stomped on the small robot, busting it open.

"The damn thing policed the brass." He pointed out, spotting the casings inside the vacuum. Well that would definitely made more sense…..

"Told you we weren't crazy." McGee pointed out.

"Bag it." Gibbs handed the casings over to McGee.

...

As Ducky and Palmer were loading the body onto a gurney Ziva came in.

"The boy saw a car leaving the scene that looked like a Caruma. I am not familiar with the model." She explained to Gibbs, who stared at her blankly.

"Caruma is Japanese for..car." he told her.

"Your description of the car, is car. Nice work officer David." Tony deadpanned from behind them, amused with Ziva's flustering.

"Caruma is the name of a car in grand theft auto 3. It's a Chrysler c-ring sedan." McGee corrected. Ziva pointed at him, shooting Tony a triumphant grin.

"McGee with the save." I praised.

"I'll put out a bolo." Ziva announced, heading out the door.

"Find the staff sergeants wife and…"

"Eric?!" a redheaded woman dashed into the house before Gibbs could finish the order. We all whipped our heads around and watched as she froze at the sight of the body bag.

"No..is…is that…is that my husband?" she sobbed, walking over towards the cart. The woman that came in with her stood behind the distressed wife, attempting to soothe her.

"That's not your husband. It's not your husband." Gibbs quickly walked over to assure her before she went into hysterics. At her sobs dissolved into sniffles.

...

 **3rd Person POV:**

A few minutes later, Gibbs was quietly questioning the other woman.

"I'm her sister. We were at the school setting up for the Halloween party when the police came." She explained.

"Is her daughter still there?" Gibbs questioned. The sister frowned.

"Sarah? She was with Eric." She explained. Gibbs looked over her shoulder at Tony.

"Amber alert, on it boss." Tony quickly dashed off. Walking back into the dining room, Gibbs joined Mrs. Niles and McGee at the table.

"I'm okay now." She told him as he sat down, the tears now having stopped.

"When they said Eric was shot and I saw that body I…" she briefly explained herself.

"Mrs. Niles your husband was shot and he's at the hospital in surgery. We will take you to see him." Claire interjected soothingly. Mrs. Niles turned her attention back to Gibbs.

"We just need to ask you a few questions." She nodded in understanding. The sister knelt down next to her.

"Lori…Sarah's missing." She gently broke the news.

"You mean she's been kidnapped." Lori corrected, her eyes staring to tear up again.

"They don't know that for sure yet." Her sister quickly countered.

"Mrs. Niles your daughter may have been scared and run off." McGee suggested.

"Perhaps there is a friend or relative's house she would go to?" Ziva added.

"No…no she would have called me on my cellphone. They took my little girl." She sniffled.

"They'll find her, Lori we just have to stay positive ok?" her sister consoled firmly. As if on cue, Lori's cellphone rang.

"That could be her right now." Her sister suggested hopefully. Lori quickly picked up her cell from the table.

"Mind putting that on speaker?" Gibbs instructed. Lori nodded and did as he asked, holding the phone up between the group.

"Hello?"

"Mommy!" a little voice cried from the other end. Everyone visibly sagged at hearing Sarah's voice.

"Baby are you okay?"

"They hurt daddy…I tried to call the police but the man.."

"Listen to me Sarah, everything is going to be alright… you just need to." However, the next voice wasn't Sarah's.

"We have your daughter." At that sentence everyone tensed up once more.

"If you want to see her again, you'll do exactly what I say. Ill call back with instructions." The warped voice quickly hung up. Lori began sobbing again.

...

Ziva and Gibbs had stayed behind with Mrs. Niles while Tony, McGee and Claire were sent back to NCIS. Claire had broken away to head down to Abby's lab to see if she could get anything done since she was the only one allowed to touch…some…of her equipment. Currently Abby was still unreachable at the party. Tony and McGee walked into autopsy as Ducky was talking to the once skeleton man.

"Halloween was brought over from Scotland, along with the fine sports of gold and curling." Tony made his way to the other side of the table.

"I wouldn't call anything using a broom a sport, Ducky." He pointed out.

"Tony, curling is referred to as chess on ice because it puts high demand on tactics and foresight." Ducky explained, pausing a moment to take photographs of the man's makeup free face.

"Relax ducky, I love Scotland. Sean Connery, the bloody best James bond ever." Tony grinned, imitating a Scottish accent that didn't quite hit the mark.

"I thought he was Irish." McGee countered, causing Ducky to laugh.

"He played Darby Ogill in the little people." McGee elaborated.

"He was using a fake Irish accent, it's called acting." Tony defended as Ducky walked around them to continue taking photographs.

"The preliminary cause of death is blunt force trauma to the neck. However, once I've done the uh…"

"This guy's our only link to the missing girl, I need an ID." Tony interrupted. Ducky turned to look up at him.

"Well currently he remains a John doe. He has no ID, he has no tattoos, no distinguishing marks." Ducky pointed out, handing the camera over to McGee.

"What about his prints?" Tony inquired, looking down at the mystery man.

"Mr. Palmer took them up to Abby's lab." Ducky explained.

"She's not there and she's not answering our calls." He added with a sigh.

"Halloween is a pretty big night for Abby." McGee nodded.

"Every night is Halloween for Abby." Tony quipped.

"Ah, there you are. Is she here yet?" Ducky asked as a stunned Palmer walked into the room.

"Oh she's here…and she's in costume." Palmer told them, a grin slipping on his face. Tony stared at him for a moment longer, analyzing the young man's daze.

"There's more isn't there.." he whispered, intrigued. Palmer grinned wider.

"The coat is off." He muttered. Tony and McGee grinned.

"Oh my god…what's it like?" Tony whispered, his eyes lighting up with anticipation.

"Trust me, you wouldn't want me to ruin the surprise." Palmer whispered with a grin. Sharing a look, the two men quickly made their way towards the elevators.

...

Walking to the lab, both men froze in the doorway. At the computer stood a very different version of Abby. She wore a flowy white halter dress that showed off most of her back, and the tattoos that rested there. Paired with that she had on white heels and a blond wig. It was easy to identify her costume as mailing Monroe, but it still left the boys stunned into silence to see her there like that. To enhance the moment, Claire had gotten rid of her trench coat displaying her Laura Croft costume. Tony's eyes focused in on her bare midriff that was between the tight crop tank and small cargo shorts. He gulped as his eyes ran down to eye the thigh holsters on her toned legs.

"Oh it's even better than I dreamed." He whispered tightly. All McGee could do was nod dumbly. As if sensing their presence Abby whirled around dramatically, while Claire simply turned and leaned back against the table. Tony and McGee stared at them in awe, each of their eyes on a separate girl.

"Oh, sorry I was late you guys. I couldn't hear my cellphone ringing at the party. You wouldn't think a cemetery would be a little quieter."

"Ugh I wish I had made it, I was really looking forward to it." Claire interjected, crossing her arms under her chest. Tony's throat tightened as he stared openly.

"I know, although I was wondering why you didn't show. And it's awful about that little girl. I mean to get kidnapped on Halloween? Totally creepy." Abby rattled before turning once more, ignoring their dazed expressions as they continued to stare. They shared an almost pained look, before going back to staring. Claire tilted her torso towards the computer.

"I'm running the fingerprints through AFIS. I'm starting with Virginia and Maryland, then a subset of all known child molesters on the east coast. I've got an amber alert running, but no hits yet." All she got was the flash of a camera as McGee took a picture of the girls. Abby spun around and leaned against the table behind her, Claire turning to look back at the boys too.

"We've got to find her." she hummed. The boys remained stationary.

"Why are you looking at us like that? Do I have food in my teeth or something?" Abby finally asked. Claire merely stared curiously at them, being sure to make direct eye contact with Tony. As their eyes locked he held in a groan….she knew exactly what she was doing and it was evil. However, he was the first to break the silence, sputtering out a nervous laugh.

"I'll just stick with or something." He told her, leading the way closer to the computers.

"We need to run our dead guy's photo against mug shots." Tony explained. As they got up next to the girls both men continued to stare openly. Tony's eyes raked over Claire while McGee was distracted with Abby. Abby nodded and stared at them expectantly.

"Give me." She ordered impatiently. Tony nodded jerkily and looked over at McGee, who was now looking over at Claire with a dazed grin. Tony glared and reached up to head slapped him back into the present.

"Camera, McGee." He scolded. Claire bit her lip to keep from grinning, catching Tony's eye. He shrugged innocently.

"mm…cam…camera, sorry." McGee quietly muttered. Ignoring their bumbling Abby took the camera from him, popping the SD card into her computer. Tony and McGee stood on either side of Abby, Tony between the girls. McGee continued to grin at Abby in a daze while Tony tried to be more discrete with Claire on his right.

"We….we…. need to uh…put out a bolo. S….see if anyone recognizes this guy." Tony stuttered, trying to keep it together as Claire trailed a finger up and down his side. Not like McGee would notice anyway and Abby already knew. He turned to shoot a warning glare at the woman, who merely smiled back as if she had no idea what he could be so wound up about. Ignoring the couple behind her, Abby glared at McGee.

"McGee, what is wrong with you?" she asked tiredly. His grin dropped.

"You look 3 cans short of a 6 pack." She added, staring at him in confusion. Claire snorted while Tony shot a warning look at the man from the other side of Abby's head.

"I think its just you…you look different." McGee giggled stupidly. Claire pinched her nose. That was horrible. McGee sees a pretty girl and suddenly all intelligence goes out the window.

"He means the Halloween costume, Marilyn." Tony clarified.

"Oh right. Sweet huh?" Abby grinned, not catching the true implications of their stares. Tony muttered in agreement. Breaking the moment, Tony's cell went off.

"Excuse me." He whispered taking a step away to take the call from Gibbs. Claire and Abby turned back around to face the computers, sharing a knowing grin once their backs were turned. Just because they were working, it didn't mean they couldn't have just a little fun.


	10. Chapter 10

[Witch Hunt: 2] 

**...**

 **3rd Person POV:**

Back out on the street McGee, Tony and Claire were talking to a 'zombie' who saw the car driving away from the crime scene.

"So, you saw the C-ring driving that way?" McGee asked slowly. However, the 'zombie' didn't respond instantly as he was currently staring down Claire's legs that were on show. Claire sighed in annoyance. She had the NCIS jacket on to cover up her torso but without a change of clothes or the time to change she was stuck with the shorts. Tony glared at the man.

"Hey! He asked you a question." He snapped. The man jerked out of his haze and looked up to see Tony's glare. After a moment he shook his head before mumbling out an answer from under the mask that was attached to his face.

"What? Is that German…are you….is he speaking German?" Tony asked in mock curiosity as he looked to Claire in frustration.

"I wish." She muttered with a heavy sigh. The zombie shook his head again and continued to mumble, holding up two fingers.

"I think he's saying two people." McGee narrowed his eyes trying to hear the words. The man nodded, looking between the three agents.

"Two people where…." Tony continued. The man mumbled while using his shoulders to gesture something.

"What is that? Moving a manhole, using a rake?" Tony chuckled incredulously, staring at the masked man with wide eyes. The zombie grumbled and turned to Claire for help.

"No, he's just saying you're bad at charades." She explained to the man, fully in agreement. Tony rolled his eyes. How was he the only one that didn't understand at least some of what was being communicated.

"Alright, this is ridiculous." Tony sighed, reaching over to rip off the bottom half of the mask. The man yelped in pain as the glue pulled on his skin.

"Dude, you ruined my costume!" he shrieked in pain.

"Do you want to be charged with obstruction of a federal investigation huh? Then speak, zombie." Tony instructed sternly.

"Ok look I saw the vehicle all right, and I think there were two people in it." The man explained, much more clearly now.

"Which way did it go?" Claire asked.

"That way, it cut the corner so hard it ran over the curb." he pointed down towards the end of the street.

"Show me." Tony ordered. The man glanced at the group before sticking his hands out and moaning like a zombie as he began to stagger. Claire instantly pushed on his chest to stop his walk.

"Let's not do that." She told him pointedly. The guy rolled his eyes.

"Ok look, it crashed into all that stuff and then it drove off that way." the zombie pointed out the overturned hay bales and pumpkins on the curb.

"Did you get at the license plate?" McGee asked.

"Dude, I can barely see you with all this makeup on." He threw his hands up. With a tired glare, Tony slowly reattached his 'mouth' and pointed for the man to walk away. The man did so but not before displaying his zombie imitation once more. Claire rolled her eyes and groaned before walking towards the curb, letting the boys grab the stuff from the car. Once Tony had grabbed his flashlight he took off after her.

"Couldn't see…he seemed to be looking at one of us just fine." Tony muttered sourly.

"Oh give it a rest, it's not like he was the only one." She countered, shooting him a knowing stare. Tony sputtered.

"When?!" he asked. She turned to look at him with an incredulous grin.

"Abby's lab." Tony quickly turned red and looked away sheepishly.

"You saw that huh?" he asked quietly.

"What? Did I see how yours and McGee's tongues practically dragged the floor…. Of course I saw it." She snapped in amusement. Tony winced but remained silent as they slowed down enough for McGee to join them with the camera. At the curb Tony was shining a light on the smashed pumpkins that McGee was snapping photos of.

"You got a time of death on the Great Pumpkin here Charlie Brown?" Tony inquired.

"I might have more than that. The car left an impression on it." McGee indicated, pointing out markings on the pieces of smashed pumpkin.

"Perfect. Let's get it back and let Abby work her magic on it."

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Back in the lab, Abby was twirling around in her costume, enjoying the feel of the dress as it swirled around her legs.

"Dawn of the Dead was awesome." She chimed in to our current horror movie conversation.

"Cinematic blasphemy." Tony frowned in horror, while McGee was busy staring at Abby.

"Fast zombies? There's a reason you don't remake classics." Tony continued.

"John Carpenter's The Thing?" I pointed out with a grin. Tony's expression faltered and he stared at me, his lips pursed in displeasure.

"Well there's an exception to every rule." He relented, moving his hand up to take a bite of his lunch.

"The Fly?" I continued. Tony paused, his wrap almost to his mouth.

"Ok maybe two." He conceded once more. I grinned smugly, to which he simply huffed that I had proved my point.

"Didn't you say Al Pacino in Scarface was the best…"

"Okay!" Tony quickly cut off McGee, realizing that we were pointing out his inconsistencies.

"My point is, zombies should be slow." He reiterated with finality.

"Tony, there's nothing scary about a zombie dragging his butt around." Abby pointed out, as she continued to flutter her dress around.

"Well a zombie's not a zombie unless its dragging its butt around." Tony shot back, as if it was obvious.

"But you like 28 Days Later." I pointed out smugly. Tony let out a cry of betrayal, as I added fuel to the fire against his argument.

"Those zombies were really quick." McGee added on. Tony groaned in exasperation. I laughed, reaching over to rub his arm sympathetically.

"Okay, enough with the zombies already." He whined.

"Did we find an impression on the vegetable or not?" He asked instead, turning his back on everyone so he could stare at the big screen.

"Technically it's a fruit." McGee corrected, watching Abby closely as she walked around to the screen. I rolled my eyes with a grin and made my way over to stand by Tony. However, his wrap caught my eye. I had forgotten to get lunch today. Pulling his arm towards me, I leaned forward to snag a bite. Tony sputtered in disagreement until he noticed that as I leaned over to bite into it I was showing off my cleavage. Tony quickly stopped and stared down instead, his eyes lingering even as I straightened back up. I shot a side eye his way with a smug grin. Realizing what I had done was completely purposeful, Tony grumbled under his breath about 'vixen', 'thief', and 'cheating'.

"We finished laser scanning the surface of the great pumpkin, McGee can you invert the image…..as soon as you're done undressing me with your eyes." Abby pointed out with a knowing stare. McGee shrunk back sheepishly. Tony quickly turned his head, realizing that I wasn't the only one who had taken notice of their lingering stares. I held back a snigger, ignoring the withering glare Tony briefly shot me.

"Bring up the gamma and increase the contrast." Abby requested as she watched the screen.

"And flop it." She requested. Once the image had been flipped, I gasped in mock surprise.

"Smashing." I muttered with a grin. Tony rolled his eyes at the pun, but still grinned.

"It's the left-hand side of a Virginia license plate." Abby added proudly.

"Run it McGee." Tony ordered.

"The first four letters, cross referencing against Chrysler c-rings." McGee muttered aloud as he worked. We all watched as the results were pulled up on the screen.

"And we've got a hit. The car was registered to a rental car company in Kentland Virginia." McGee relayed.

"Yes, DiNozzo does it again." Tony chuckled triumphantly. I smacked him on the arm.

"You mean Abby and McGee did it again." McGee corrected for me. Behind us I could hear another slap as Abby swatted McGee. Tony and I glanced backwards at them curiously.

"Ow what was that for?" McGee flinched.

"Those days ended, the moment you started sexing up the cheerleader." Abby told him pointedly. Tony and I quickly turned back. Interesting.

"Find out who rented that car, I'm about to make Gibb's night." Tony requested, already dialing.

"Sorry Tony, there is no name. The car was reported stolen three days ago." McGee sighed.

"So much for that. Now what?" I sighed in disappointment. Tony quickly hung up as he stared at the information with a glare.

...

 **3rd Person POV:**

"She's just telling you this now?" Tony asked in exasperation as McGee ran the name Robert Miller through DMV. Ziva was calling to inform the rest of them that there was a chance Sarah had a different biological father. It was another kidnapping suspect to run down.

"Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean she tells me everything, Tony." Ziva shot back.

"Really? So, you women don't have some gossip pact or something?" Claire scoffed and turned to give him a deadpan stare. Tony shrugged with a teasing grin.

"Robert Miller, there's over 300 listed in the tri-state area alone." McGee relays, distracting the others from the topic.

"What about the rest of the criteria?" Tony suggested, going off of the physical description they had been given from the wife.

"Still over 100 Robert Millers listed." McGee answered.

"We've got her cellphone records, right?" Claire pointed out.

"We tapped her line" he nodded.

"So, check the record of calls in the last month." she told him pointedly. McGee's eyes widened in realization before frantically typing the info into the computer.

"Abby's right. I am three cans short of a six pack." he muttered sourly; how could he not have thought of that before?

"I think she was talking about your six pack, McFlabby." Tony quipped, earning a scowl.

"Ok three calls about a month ago, called from his home phone." McGee pointed out.

"Calls from his home phone, three calls in the last month." Tony relayed to Ziva over the phone.

"Well if it's his home phone, then that means we have an address. Let's go." Claire indicated, already grabbing her gear and heading towards the elevator.

...

"The last time I did Halloween I was an astronaut. The neighborhood we grew up in….well it wasn't really a neighborhood. There were these estates with mansions smack dab in the middle of them with really long driveways. Made Halloween very tricky, that's a lot of walking. God my feet were tired that night, my dogs were barking." Tony reminisced as they drove to Robert Millers address.

"Yea I can imagine it was rough growing up rich like that." McGee deadpanned from the passenger seat.

"My costume was fantastic though. Wicked awesome. I was a spaceman….no ventilation though. I was burning up. Sweating like roger Federer after a 5 set tie breaker…and stinky. Stinky like a cheese." Mcgee grimaced and looked into the rearview mirror to stare at Claire with a bored yet mildly amused look. She merely grinned. She didn't mind Tony reminiscing on the good points of his childhood. There weren't a lot he liked to talk about.

"But man what a haul, I made off with more candy than I could carry." Tony continued, oblivious to the looks from the other two.

"I'd imagine this story is coming to an end soon." McGee muttered under his breath.

"But when I got home, my old man made me throw it all away. Even the apples." Tony mused with a frown.

"He was concerned with your teeth." McGee supplied for the ending. Tony glanced over at him in surprise.

"Oh…no I made my astronaut costume out of one of his $3,000 designer ski suits." Tony corrected with a grimace.

"Ouch." Claire frowned.

"I don't think I sat down again till Christmas." Tony nodded in agreement.

"Good times probie…good times." Tony trailed off with a strained grin, which McGee shared.

"Well that was almost a great story. The ending needs a bit of work." Claire quipped. Tony chuckled and turned to shoot her a grin.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Meeting Gibbs at the address, we pulled up to an apartment complex that seemed to be hosting a party along with lots of kids trick or treating in the neighborhood.

"Caruma." McGee identified as we approached the car just behind ours.

"The plates match." Gibbs added as we used our flashlights to look over the car.

"This is definitely our stolen ride." I concluded, kneeling down to take a closer look at the pumpkin guts that were all over the license plate.

"This is his building. Second floor, apartment 207" Tony confirmed as he eyed all the costume clad people coming in and out.

"Maybe Halloween doesn't have to suck after all." I mused, hoping this was the end of the case. Tony shrugged.

"Still skeptical." He muttered.

"It smells like something was burned in here recently." McGee sniffed as he opened the driver side door, bringing Tony and I back to the present moment.

"It's still smoldering." Reaching into the ashtray he pulled out a smoking paper. This meant that the car was parked here recently. Hopefully Miller was still here.

"Pop the trunk McGee." Gibbs requested, already making his way back. Having his gun at the ready, Gibbs lifted the trunk. Reaching in he held up a princess cone hat, knowing that was part of Sarah's costume. But no Sarah.

"Let's get this son of a bitch." he huffed, leading the way into the building. Making our way up to the appropriate door we found the source of the party music. Gibbs shoved open the door, shouting 'federal agents'. Everyone inside merely stared at as curiously. No one even flinched. A very different reaction than we are used to for sure.

"Yea alright!" the carrot man up front cheered, all the other guests following shortly after. A large spider dropped down on top of me. Unfortunately, giant spiders tend to freak me out and naturally I reacted badly to the surprise attack. I lept backwards into Tony, shrieking while trying to swat it away. As if I couldn't get more embarrassing the carrot man snapped a photo of the event. I felt Tony tremble as he tried not to laugh and I quickly righted myself. Gibbs stared down at me, unphased by the spider.

"Sorry." I mumbled, flashing a menacing glare back at the boys who were trying hard not to giggle.

"Great group costume guys, but you spelled CSI wrong on your hats." The stupid carrot chuckled. Gibbs pursed his lips in displeasure and holstered his gun, signaling for us to do the same. Although I very much wanted to shoot something….or someone.

"Robert Miller." Gibbs requested.

"Somebody's in a bad mood." The carrot taunted but grunted in surprise as Gibbs swiftly lifted him off his feet and held him to the wall.

"Right over there by the alien ladies." The man quickly pointed in the direction of the opposite end of the room. Everyone was quiet as they watched, now fearing us instead of thinking we were just in costume.

"Hey buddy I want that last photo." Tony grinned as we walked past carrot man.

"I swear Tony DiNozzo…"

"Whatever the threat it would be totally worth having your freak out expression forever." Tony quickly cut me off, beaming at the idea. I glared at him but continued following Gibbs.

"Robert Miller?" Gibbs asked looking over all the elaborate alien costumes. A man with a severely wrinkled forehead, Klingon, answered in gibberish.

"Boss he just said 'your mother has a smooth forehead'." McGee translated. Gibbs shot him a weirded out expression.

"It's a Klingon insult." he explained. Tony looked over at McGee incredulously.

"You speak Klingon?" he asked.

"Not fluently but yes." McGee avoided eye contact.

"….why…" I asked. McGee shot me a disgruntled stare but I thought my question was valid.

"Federal agents." Gibbs flashed his badge. Instead of cooperating like a normal person he continued in Klingon, flashing his blade. Tony and I looked to McGee in confusion; Tony's hand hovering over his gun at the sight of the weapon.

"Now he's saying Klingons don't surrender." McGee deadpanned. Tired of the charade Gibbs quickly disarmed the man and pushed him against the wall.

"Are you Robert Miller?" Gibbs asked sternly.

"Who are you people?" Robert asked in surprise. Gibbs growled and yanked the man to his feet.

"Yea, yea, yea!" Robert shouted, finally answering Gibbs' question.

"Sarah Niles, where is she?" I asked him. Robert huffed and took out his false teeth.

"That bitch sent you here? Look my lawyer said I had the right to know if she is my child. I'm just trying to do the right thing. If she's my daughter I just want to be a part of her life." Robert defended. Gibbs just stared at him.

"She looks exactly like me…..well except for the fake teeth and the bumps on the forehead." He amended after the looks we gave him.

"Is that why you kidnapped her?" Gibbs asked. Robert frowned in confusion.

"I didn't kidnap anybody."

"The car that was used is parked just downstairs." Gibbs countered.

"Look I have no idea what you're talking about, look I've been here all day with my friends preparing for this party. You can ask them." Robert insisted. From behind McGee and Tony emerged from the crowd.

"Boss, no sign of Sarah." McGee told him.

"See I told you." Robert pointed out.

"The only thing I hate worse than Halloween are Klingons." Tony growled irritably.

"Look ask them. Ask the guy with the cheese head hat, ask the vampire, carrot man. Ask him." Robert pointed out various characters.

"Look this has gone far enough, I happen to be a lawyer." Carrot man spoke up.

"Yes, please give me something else to hate about you." I snapped at him, causing the carrot to shy away.

"Look I didn't do anything alright? Laurie is the one who threatened me. She told me that her husband….her husband was gonna kill me if I didn't leave her alone." Robert explained. I rolled my eyes. She had conveniently left that part out.

"DiNozzo." Gibbs looked over, indicating for him to make the call. Tony stepped away while Gibbs cuffed the Klingon. However, when he called, Ziva told him that the women were gone. Fantastic….

...

 **3rd Person POV:**

Back at NCIS Ziva and Claire were in the break room with coffees. The two women sat down at the table a little uncomfortably as neither was super keen on spending one on one time with each other. It was just awkward. Claire silently sipped her coffee, waiting for Ziva to calm down and talk first.

"I screwed up. I knew the staff sergeant's wife was hiding something, that she wasn't telling the whole truth. And you know what I did? I allowed myself to feel sorry for her." Ziva laughed sarcastically at herself.

"I mean do you know what that makes me?" she scoffed.

"Human." Claire suggested as she sipped her drink.

"A chimp!" Ziva protested.

"I think you mean chump. A chimp is the animal; chump is someone easily fooled." Claire corrected, Ziva staring at her unimpressed.

"Ugh…you're right." Ziva sighed, setting down her own cup.

"You're being a bit hard on yourself." Claire tried to comfort.

"I let Laurie Niles and her sister climb out of a bedroom window in the middle of our investigation." Ziva shot back. Claire nodded, she couldn't disagree.

"Ok that was bad." She relented with a wry grin.

"Perhaps they should throw me a parade yes?" Ziva threw her hands up.

"Look the things to focus on now is the why? Two thirds of all child abductions are by a biological relative." Claire told her pointedly. Ziva frowned in thought.

"She kidnapped her own child." She mused.

"You know what they say about mama bear and their cubs." Claire nodded, taking a sip of her drink.

"They eat them when the food runs out." Ziva answered. Claire coughed violently, spitting out a bit of her drink as it went down her windpipe. Ziva hastily handed her some napkins to clean up.

"What?!" she wheezed in surprise.

"I watched it in the documentary that Tony forced me to watch….grizzly man?" Ziva elaborated.

"Well that may be the case, but I was talking about her proactiveness when the cubs are threatened. There's nothing deadlier than a mama bear protecting her cubs." Claire clarified.

"I agree. They also ate the man who shot the footage and his girlfriend." Ziva nodded.

"That's horrible." Claire grimaced.

"That's what I said to Tony but you know him." Ziva agreed, getting distracted.

"Okay back to the point. Laurie Niles may have been trying to protect Sarah. Her husband filed for separation, another man was claiming to be her dad…"

"She didn't want to lose or share custody of Sarah." Claire nodded, glad she was catching on.

"It's a possibility. Did you ask Gibbs what he thought?" she ventured, watching Ziva's expression.

"Hard to tell, he's currently not talking to me." she frowned.

"Yea I know…he sent me to talk 'woman' with you." Claire grinned, earning an eye roll from Ziva.

"Care to explain why he asked that?" she hummed. Ziva sighed in annoyance but realized she needed help.

"Ok I am not good at relating to other women.."

"Duh." Ziva shot her a look.

"I probably deserved that….so…teach me what you can." Claire grinned before diving into the tricky subject that is women.

...

Gibbs slammed a cabinet drawer as he strode into the bullpen where everyone else was.

"Our dead skeleton served in the Air Force. Received an other than honorable discharge in 2003. Did one year of community college." McGee listed out.

"He was a security guard boss. Worked for a law firm, Cap and Associates in Annandale, Virginia." Tony continued.

"Laurie Niles also works for cap and associate Gibbs. She's the chief financial officer." Ziva finished out, grabbing everyone's attention.

"So, she knew him?" Claire realized.

"Oh yea." Gibbs agreed.

"She hired him to kidnap her daughter, I mean it's the only thing that makes sense." Ziva pointed out.

"It's not the only thing that makes sense, just one thing." Claire corrected.

"There's another reason. They kidnapped her because they want Laurie to do something." Gibbs added.

"Like what?" Ziva bit back sharply.

"Got a hit on a BOLO here." McGee spoke up, cutting through the tension.

"Yea and McGee?" Gibbs asked, waling to the desk.

"And this is strange cause I just entered it into the system." He explained, pulling up the GPS map.

"It's Ferrin's vehicle and it's been moving." McGee continued.

"The cops were following it?" Claire asked, watching the screen intently.

"No, the hits were made electronically. He's using his easy pass for high speed tolling." McGee clarified.

"That's a lot of driving for a dead guy." Tony mused.

"He left Woodbridge right after Laurie Niles and her sister disappeared." Ziva pointed out.

"They made a little run up to Manassas. Not too far from Miller's apartment." Tony tacked on.

"The last hit was 5 minutes ago." McGee pointed out, standing up and grabbing his gear like the rest of them.

"Annandale, one exit from cap and associates." Ziva finished as they all rushed to the elevators.

...

At the firm Ziva and Gibbs went in the front way, taking note of the glitter all over the floor.

"That's from Sarah's costume." she pointed out.

"The plates match our skeleton's car in the parking lot." Tony relayed with a whisper as they started quietly clearing out the front lobby.

"You three, find the girl." Gibbs gestured to Tony and the two girls who took off a different hallway while Gibbs and McGee continued on. The trio made their way into the back storage rooms, taking turns leading the way through all the stacks of boxes and cabinets. In one of the side closets, Claire carefully opened the door, finding Sarah tied and gagged in a desk chair. Putting her stuff away she swiftly made her way over towards the little girl, talking to her soothingly. Relaying that they had Sarah, the three of them made their way back to the main lobby. Turning the corner, they came in to see Gibbs restraining Laurie while the 'sister' was on the floor battered and bleeding.

"Wow…what did we miss?" Claire asked eyeing the scene.

"Apparently she doesn't have a sister." Gibbs answered dryly before walking out.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Back at NCIS, I smiled as Abby led Sarah around to all the desks in the office. Since Sarah missed out on the fun parts of Halloween we figured she was deserving of some candy and enjoyment.

"Well I'm glad that Halloween is finally over." Tony mused, already packing up his desk. I looked over at him curiously.

"What do you mean over? We still have….four more hours." I corrected, glancing at my phone for the time. Tony looked at me like I had two heads.

"What are you planning?" he asked skeptically. I grinned, stalking towards him.

"Well I was thinking some scary movies at your place, since you have most of the classics." I suggested innocently. Tony nodded thoughtfully and led the way to the elevators, me following close behind him. Waving to everyone left we entered and hit the buttons for the parking garage.

"That doesn't sound too bad. It is one part of Halloween I can get on board with. But didn't you have a party to be at?" I shrugged.

"It's probably over by now, besides I'd rather spend the night with you." I grinned up at him, my heart warming as Tony shared the grin and leaned his head to kiss my temple. When the elevator doors opened a devious thought entered my head.

"You know after….we could always do some trick or treating of our own." I suggested, reaching up to fiddle with his tie. Tony paused, watching my actions warily.

"Why would we go out trick or treating for candy?" he deadpanned in confusion. I hummed.

"I was thinking you could beg for something better than candy…..and we wouldn't have to leave the apartment at all…" I stared up at him waiting for him to make the connection. He froze by the edge of the compound while I continued on to the car, glancing behind me every so often.

"Best Halloween ever!" he cheered, making his way towards me. I glanced back to see him speeding up to a jog and I made a mad dash for the car. I smiled as I heard Tony laughing behind me as we ran across the parking lot.


	11. Chapter 11

Sandblast [part 1]

...

 **3rd Person POV:**

In the bullpen McGee watched with mild incredulity as Tony stood there pouring sugar into his coffee cup from one of the giant dispensers you would find at a café.

"One and a half teaspoons of sugar is not sweet McGee." Tony told him as if it were obvious, letting the white crystals continue to pour into his coffee.

"I've seen many of my people pour three ounces of sugar into a one ounce of espresso." Tony continued, giving the sugar one or two big shakes to prompt it to fall faster. McGee looked at him in confusion.

"Your people being….long islanders?" he asked, turning back to his filing while Tony finally closed the sugar up.

"Romans." Tony corrected, placing the sugar inside the cabinet McGee was working on.

"Inventors of the grain harvester, the arc, modern plumbing." Tony grinned, picking up a small container of travel cream and shaking it vigorously.

"I'm really regretting making you watch that show on the history channel." Claire muttered, watching him sugar up his drink.

"Plumbing, huh. Well now every time I flush I will think of you, Tony. You and your people." McGee quipped. Claire snorted out a laugh, quickly she quickly covered up with a cough. Tony playfully narrowed his eyes at the them, still shaking his cream.

"I would ask you to explain that, but I really don't want to know." Ziva commented with a frown as she placed her bag down at her desk.

"And I definitely don't want to know what you're doing." She added, eyeing Tony as he continued to shake his arm back and forth vigorously.

"Making cappuccino, Ziva." He showed her the cream.

"And educating Probie about what Italy has contributed to the world. Oration, Italian chinema, sports cars.." he sighed wistfully.

"Gold chains and chest hairs?" she added teasingly. Tony ignored her.

"Pasta in all its sexy shapes and sizes." He grinned, mixing his drink before putting a lid on it.

"The Chinese invented pasta." Claire corrected, sipping her drink. Tony's grin died as he stared wide eyed at her.

"Communist era propaganda." He deflected weakly.

"Tony, we both sat through the show…" Claire pointed out.

"I think you fell asleep during the part where they talked about pasta."

"You fell asleep. Snoring and everything."

"I. Don't. Snore."

"You do on occasion…" McGee and Ziva shared a grin of amusement as the two continued to bicker about pasta and snoring.

...

Shortly after getting the call the NCIS team pulled into the Army-Navy club's golf course where a colonel, who had been golfing with his son, was blown up in a sand bunker. The agents stepped out of the van to see the crime scene already crawling with army men.

"Looks like we're late to the party." Tony mused. Gibbs flashed his badge, leading the others under the crime scene tape.

"Assume a 100 meter blast radius from the sand trap." Gibbs informed the team.

"It's called a bunker, boss. Not a sand trap." Tony instantly corrected. Gibbs turned to stare at him, causing Tony's heart to stop for a beat.

"Blast radius of 100 meters, got it boss." He quickly corrected, avoiding eye contact.

"McGee, you got the woods. I got the far side." Tony instructed, already heading in his designated direction. McGee paused, making a noise of hesitance. Everyone turned to look at him curiously, Gibbs walking back.

"What McGee?" he spat. Tim blinked nervously.

"Uh poison ivy boss. I…I just…I look at the stuff and I break out." he explained with a wince. Gibbs shrugged.

"Don't look." with that, McGee reluctantly headed for the woods.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Ziva and I followed after Gibbs to the blast site.

"The Zakkas will be busy today." Ziva mused. I frowned shooting her a confused look.

"Zakkas?"

"Orthodox Jews who volunteer to collect body parts from terrorist attacks." She explained, glancing over all the parts lying around the grass. As Gibbs knelt down to examine the bunker a voice came from behind us.

"Agent Gibbs?" he turned and spotted the woman in army drab holding her hand out towards him.

"Lieutenant Colonel…Hollis Mann. Army CID." The woman introduced, pausing for a beat as Gibbs turned to face her. My eyebrows shot up at the pause. The two stared at one another stoically and I made myself scarce….yet remained within earshot to overhear what was sure to be an interesting conversation.

"I believe your director called..."

"She did." Gibbs held out a hand towards the two of us.

"Ziva.."

"Ziva David and Claire Conners. I know." Colonel Mann cut off his introduction with a nod. Ziva and I shared at glance. Colonel Mann obviously did her homework.

"Army criminal investigative division has excellent intel." She elaborated, ignoring the stare Gibbs was giving her.

"Then you can use it to support our investigation." he muttered, leading us towards the edge of the scene. Ziva and I trailed in the back, making notes about the crime scene while watching Gibbs and the Lt. Colonel talk.

"Joint investigation." Colonel Mann corrected as she fell into step with Gibbs.

"With Army in the lead. Its not the Navy-Army club, it's the ARMY- Navy club." She emphasized pointedly.

"Yea, but that is a dead marine at the Army-Navy club." Gibbs countered, pointing to the torso of the victim. Colonel Mann bit her cheek as Gibbs walked off.

"I had EOD's sweep the rest of the sand traps." She informed Gibbs once she had caught back up with him. I certainly admired her persistence. Most people would be attempting to chew out Gibbs by now.

"Bunkers." Gibbs corrected. I smirked at the irony of that comment. He was trying really hard to get a rise out of her.

"Excuse me?"

"They're called bunkers, not sand traps." Gibbs elaborated. Colonel Mann closed her eyes in annoyance.

"The colonel's son said he saw what he thought was a spider web in the bunker." She continued on with her overview of the scene.

"Trip wire?" Ziva inquired from where she was examining the ground nearby.

"Possibly, there's not much to go on with this one." Colonel Mann nodded to the charred sand.

"We've got a lot of land to cover." Gibbs nodded silently.

"18 holes on a golf course." he commented, standing opposite from her but still in her personal space. I watched silently with a frown at all the conflicting body language signals that were going on between the two. It was so angsty.

"Do you wanna divide them up?"

"Sure, we'll take the crime scene. You and your people can take the other 17 holes." Gibbs informed her snarkily, turning to face the woman. She grinned wryly.

"You're not taking away my crime scene, end of story. But if you ask nicely I might just give you the body." Colonel Mann told him with her own taunting grin. Ziva and I continued to glance back and forth between the two, equally intrigued and weirded out by the chemistry going on between them. Gibbs tilted his head in thought.

"Well…..I don't really have to ask. My ME got here first." He pointed out Ducky who was hopping out of his own van. Colonel Mann crossed her arms.

"Ok, if this is going to be a pissing match then you better bring an umbrella." She informed him sternly. Gibbs bit back a grin as they stared one another down. The few seconds of charged silence followed until someone finally broke it up.

"OH HO! I got some good news boss!" Tony shouted eagerly as he came jogging towards the group. He slowed and frowned as he stared at the new woman with the boss.

"Did I miss something?" he asked me under his breath as he passed.

"Gibbs just found his fourth ex-wife." I muttered, still eyeing the duo uncomfortably. Tony shuddered minutely.

"What do ya got, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, turning away from the colonel.

"I found this off the next tee. It was outside of the blast radius; the wind must have carried it. Looks like part of a detonator." Tony held up the piece of black material for them.

"I checked the neighboring tees myself." Colonel Mann frowned at having missed something that significant.

"Well maybe you should have checked the trash cans." Tony grinned pointedly.

"Looks like a hole in one boss." he added cheekily as he placed the piece into the evidence bag. Gibbs grinned at him.

"Nice work." He complimented, taking pleasure in the Colonel's put out expression.

...

Back at the office I stood in one of the side rooms, monitoring the interview with the son on from the camera feed. Tony sat with him in one of the conference rooms, taking Josh's statement. We felt it was best to have a one on one talk to ease the boy's nerves. Also, this way I could 'stare' at him and analyze his body language without making him feel uncomfortable.

"I can't believe he's gone." Josh murmured in disbelief. He was bandaged and banged up, having been near his father when the blast went off. Poor kid.

"It's like I hear myself say that, but I know it's a stupid thing to say." He huffed. Tony looked up at him.

"It's not stupid, Josh." Tony assured him softly, going back to writing down the statement.

"If you told me he was still alive….that what I saw was a trick, I….I think I would believe you." Josh continued, staring blankly at the table. He looked over at Tony, his eyes wide and vulnerable. Tony softened, seeing the terror and heartbreak in the young man's eyes.

"Maybe we should finish this tomorrow." He whispered in concern. Josh swallowed and shook his head.

"I'll be at Princeton tomorrow." He explained.

"Dad wouldn't want me to miss my first day of classes." Josh mused quietly. Tony nodded.

"Okay." He agreed in understanding.

"You saw a spider web in the bunker you said?" Tony continued, looking up at Josh for confirmation.

"Yea….at least I thought so. Until my dad hit it…..I should have said something….." Josh huffed, getting more worked up as he went.

"There was nothing you could have done." Tony assured sternly. Josh sent him an annoyed stare.

"That's another stupid thing people say." He grumbled. Tony pursed his lips in though and shrugged.

"Well I got a million of them." He grinned, leaning back in the chair.

"You should ask my coworkers they'll tell ya." He added. I laughed lightly, watching the interaction with a grin. Tony continually protests that he's bad with kids but he truly does have a gentle side. Plus his continued humor tends to ease the tension. I continued watching as Josh stared at Tony before nodding minutely.

"Ok what else you got?" he asked.

"Everything happens for a reason." Tony shot off, he grimaced and shook his head in a 'its such a stupid saying' manner.

"Yea that would have pissed me off." Josh agreed.

"But you could do better." Not one to back away from a challenge, Tony scrunched his face up thoughtfully.

"When your time is up…your time is up."

"I hope you got more skills than that." Tony grinned, leaning forward.

"In the immortal words of Elvis Costello….Oh! accidents will happen." He looked at Josh with wide eyes, gauging his response. Josh laughed bitterly.

"Yea I probably would have stuck my fist through your skull if you had said that." He nodded with a tight grin, some of the tension easing away.

"Soft skull actually." Tony muttered distractedly.

"Except this wasn't an accident was it?" Josh commented, staring at Tony, wanting the truth. Tony's easy demeanor dimmed.

"No." he whispered honestly.

"You know I thought we were fighting them over there so we didn't have to fight them over here." Josh huffed tightly. Tony didn't answer.

"Maybe they need more help huh?" Josh muttered distractedly. Tony eyed him, worried about the meaning of the boy's tone.

"Look you just worry about Princeton ok? We'll find who did this." Tony assured.

"Like you found Bin Laden?" the boy pointed out. Tony had no response. After a beat of silence Tony gathered up his papers.

"I think that's all for today. The agents outside will escort you out to meet up with your mom downstairs. Josh nodded silently before making his way out the doors. Once that door had shut I made my way in from another entrance-way.

"I think we should keep an eye on him." I commented distractedly, staring over at the door Josh had just left. Tony's eyebrows shot up incredulously.

"You don't seriously think he had anything to do with this do you?" I turned to look at him. I quickly shook my head, realizing how that must have sounded.

"No of course not. I just meant in general with this whole situation. He's supposed to be leaving for college tomorrow, but I don't think that plan will hold out. I just don't want him to make a quick decision out of revenge." I explained, taking a seat next to him. Tony nodded absently.

"I'll check in on him." he assured. I smiled at him, to which he eyed my face in confusion.

"What?" he asked warily.

"You were really good with him. It's nice to see that side of you every so often." I nudged his arm teasingly. Tony rolled his eyes but I caught a glimpse of a blush before he turned his head away from me.

"Let's head on downstairs." He cleared his throat and quickly made an exit. I grinned in amusement as I followed him out.

...

 **3rd Person POV:**

Down in the bullpen, McGee was pulling up photos they acquired from the Army-Navy Club before the bombing.

"There it is." he announced, finding the photo they were looking for.

"Okay good, punch in on that." Colonel Mann requested as she stood next to Ziva. McGee did so, zooming in on the car in the background that she had pointed out.

"An entire license plate." Tim mused.

"I'll update the BOLO." Ziva told them, heading back to her desk.

"BOLO for what?" Tony questioned as he made his way towards the desks, Claire trailing behind.

"When we cleared the course we marked down everyone as they left but we don't have any record of this '99 Toyota leaving. The owner's a groundskeeper at the club." Colonel Mann explained.

"He could have used an old service entrance and snuck out before we covered them all." McGee added helpfully.

"Nice catch McGee." Tony praised.

"Um actually it was my catch." Colonel Mann corrected before turning towards McGee again.

"Let's see if we can get an address on this." she instructed, not noticing Tony's mocking once she turned her back. Claire reached over and smacked him scolding.

"Does Gibbs even know she's here?" he muttered sourly. Sharing a look with Claire he quickly picked up his desk phone. Claire glanced around and spotted a familiar figure up on the balcony above them.

"Uh Tony." She poked at his shoulder but he swatted her hand away.

"Yea, Gibbs."

"Hey boss, DiNozzo here." He muttered lowly so not to be overheard by the Colonel. From the balcony behind him, Gibbs frowned. He leaned on the ledge, staring at the back of Tony's head.

"Hey DiNozzo!" he shouted, without the phone. Tony slowly looked up in confusion before spinning around to find Gibbs with the director. Gibbs waved with his cell in hand.

"That…that's weird cause I thought you were still in MTAC." Tony chuckled in embarrassment, still on his desk phone.

"Why didn't you warn me?" Tony muttered out the side of his mouth. Claire smirked.

"I did try." Tony scowled.

"What do you want?" Gibbs asked.

"We.."

"..just found an unaccounted for vehicle. From the Army-Navy Club." Colonel Mann shouted over Tony, causing everyone to feel uncomfortable with her taking charge on their turf. Gibbs promptly made his way down to join them.

...

After being sent home for the night Claire slung her bag beside the door as she entered her house, Tony close on her heels. She slipped off her shoes, tossing them by the wall under the coat rack.

"I was surprised Gibbs let us go home earlier for the night. Usually he would bite our head off if we suggested going home before midnight." Claire commented, heading straight into her kitchen to grab a water.

"Tony do you want anything to drink?" she called. Tony fidgeted from his spot in the hall by the door.

"No, I actually need to be heading out. I have plans tonight." He explained, glancing down at his watch. Claire peeked her head around the door frame.

"Oh with who?" she inquired. He hadn't mentioned anything about plans to her. Tony shrugged.

"Just with a friend. I told them I would help with something." Claire frowned curiously, fulling walking into the living area. He was being vague.

"Do you need any help?" she continued.

"Nah, guy stuff." He quickly assured her. Claire nodded, not fully satisfied but didn't want to push.

"So where did you say you were meeting him?" she asked curiously, taking a sip of her water. Tony instinctively opened his mouth to answer her but caught himself. He frowned.

"I didn't." he reminded her pointedly. Claire shrugged with a grin.

"Is this really a secret errand for a certain director?" she asked seriously. Tony bit the inside of his cheek and nodded. Claire sighed and made her way towards him. As she approached he opened his arms and held her, nuzzling her hair as she pressed her face against his chest.

"..are you sure I can't help?" she asked quietly. Tony internally sighed at how small she sounded. He hated hiding things from her.

"I'm sure. It's just something I need to take care of." He whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Claire nodded. Backing away she smiled tightly.

"I won't hold you up then." Tony nodded, the lump in his throat preventing him from commenting. As he turned to open the door she spoke up.

"Are you planning on going home after or should I expect you back here?" Tony stared at her for a moment as he thought about it.

"I'll be back. But don't feel like you have to wait up, it might be a while." He explained. Claire nodded, waving as he finally left. Walked over to the window and watched as he drove off. This whole thing with the director was getting old and as of late had been much more frequent. He was out at least once a week doing who knows what. Something was wrong about all this and she didn't like feeling as useless as she did. Biting her lip, Claire waited for him to be well out of sight before walking back over and grabbing her shoes. Maybe she could get some advice from an outside source.

...

Claire made her way to Gibb's house, not at all surprised by the lack of a lock on the door. She made her way towards the basement where the light was on. However, at the sound of voices she slowed, peering around the door frame to spot Gibbs and Colonel Mann who was out of her fatigues and actually dressed up. Claire's eyes widened in mild horror as she watched Colonel Mann shed her coat while walking to get the beer. But that wasn't the disturbing part. Gibbs had taken the bait and leaned over to stare at the woman's backside and legs in the skirt she was wearing. He quickly jerked his attention back to his boat as Colonel Mann turned. Claire couldn't even concentrate on what was being said as Gibbs turned to the side, crouching to paint the back of his boat. Colonel Mann momentarily paused her sentence as she caught sight of Gibb's ass. Claire shuttered and quickly exited, not wanting to stay any longer. It was just to disturbing to watch. Getting advice would have to wait for another time.

...

Across town at a café Tony sat across from another woman, a laptop in front of him.

"This hypothesis states that the transplanting of embryonic cells is independent of their new position in the embryo." He dramatically read off from the laptop.

"The Mosaic Hypothesis." Jean Benoit answered with a grin.

"I'm sorry, I'm going to need a complete answer." Tony pestered pointedly.

"What is the Mosaic Hypothesis." She sighed with a grin, appeasing the man. Tony smirked, closing the laptop.

"Correct. Hot and smart, the female version of me." Tony mused, leaning back to sip on his coffee.

"Oh…so you think I'm ready for the exam tomorrow?" she asked with an amused grin, bypassing the compliment he had given her. Over the past month the two had grown from acquaintances to friends. The man had literally show up at her hospital one day and from there had gradually wormed his way into her life. However, as of late she had been getting attached to him on a more romantic level. How could a young single woman not notice how attractive he was?! And Tony oozed charm, but what she was most intrigued by was the heart he had buried under all the goofball antics. She wanted to know him better, but he wasn't picking up on any of her hints. That and he seemed to be a flirt naturally, so for now she was just being his friend and wait for an opportunity to open up relationship wise.

"I have 20 bucks saying you're gonna set the curve." He assured her kindly.

"Okay that's good to hear. Because that means…I get to ask you some questions." She hummed thoughtfully.

"Fire away." He nodded for her to continue.

"Alright how's a uh….how's a kinda cute, very charming guy like you who does some bad impersonations.." Tony chuckled, ignoring the compliment.

"I don't know…what that means…but I thank you." He muttered in a godfather accent, getting Jean to giggle and hopefully away from her flirting.

"….manage to stay single for so long." She finished, staring at him intently. Tony stared at her in stunned surprise.

"Oh you're….you're gonna ask a real question…that's a real question." He rambled uncomfortably, unprepared for something so serious. They had steered clear of these types of conversation so far but he figured he couldn't keep it a superficial friendship for long. At least not for what the director wanted from him.

"Um…what are commitment issues." He answered with an easy grin. Jean laughed.

"Uh uh, not buying it." She denied.

"Really? And why is that." He asked her curiously. Usually that would do it for other people.

"In the last hour…"

"Yea?"

"…at least a dozen hot coeds have walked by. Your eyes haven't wandered once." She pointed out to him seriously. Jean snickered at Tony who was now wildly looking behind him for these coeds.

"Really?" he hummed, hoping to joke his way out. He hadn't been noticing other women in that way for a while now.

"Well obviously yours have." He shot back teasingly. Jean laughed in surprise at his implication.

"Don't get your hopes up. I'm a very um…traditional girl." She muttered, taking a sip of her coffee. Tony stared down at his own drink, taking care not to notice her eye contact. This needed to remain platonic.

"Well so was Anne Heshe." he shrugged, getting her to giggle again.

"You still haven't answered my question, Tony." She insisted, not letting him avoid the question as he would like.

"Okay…okay.." he conceded, settling into his seat as he seriously thought about his answer without giving up too much about his real life.

"Well I suppose that I am patiently waiting for the right girl." He answered honestly, a small smile flitting across his face as he thought of one particular girl that was back at home.

"Do you think you'll ever find her?" Jean asked, staring at him with a hopeful smile.

"I'm getting more and more confident by the day." Tony answered distractedly. Jean grinned and nodded, pleased with his answer. But what she didn't understand is that Tony's thoughts had gone to another woman. One with black hair and eyes a darker blue than Ms. Benoit before him.

...

Claire shifted slightly as she heard the front door open and close. As the footsteps neared her bedroom door she lazily dropped her hand to the underside of her bed frame, where she stashed one of her guns. Eyes still closed she grasped the weapon.

"Unless it's Tony DiNozzo, you had better leave now or risk getting your head blown off." She sleepily called. A low chuckle was heard from the other side of the door.

"It's me. I come in peace." He joked, slowly opening her bedroom door. Claire peeked one of her eyes open and grinned lazily. As Tony made his way into the adjoining bathroom to change she tilted her head to look at the clock on her nightstand.

"You're back earlier than I thought you would be. Everything go ok?" she inquired. Tony turned off the light before slipping into bed behind her. He tugged on her shoulder insistently. Claire laughed groggily and obliged, rolling over to snuggle into his chest.

"It went well, just ended earlier than planned." Tony explained, not elaborating further. She nodded.

"So, it went well?" she hummed in concern. He grinned thoughtfully, thinking back on Jean's question.

"Yea…it went pretty well." Tony assured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Claire nodded and smiled, snuggling closer to his chest. The two lied there in silence for a moment.

"Want to hear something interesting?" he hummed in response to her question.

"Gibbs and the Colonel lady were checking each other out in his basement. Checking out one another's asses to be specific." She grinned at Tony noise of disgust.

"Why would you tell me that?! That's just wrong." He grumbled, smiling as her drowsy laughter rang out and vibrated on his chest.

"I'm sorry." She hummed halfheartedly, drifting right back to sleep. Tony rolled his eyes fondly before drifting off to sleep shortly after.


	12. Chapter 12

Sandblast [part 2] 

...

 **3rd Person POV:**

McGee grimaced as he typed in the info to do some database searches. Glancing around he noticed that Claire was still grabbing her water from the vending machine, Tony was reading off the big screen, and Ziva was busy on the phone. Taking his chances, he quickly turned his back to the bullpen and hurriedly scratched his inner thigh….among other things…. nearly sighing in relief at the sensation. Almost instantly Claire made her way back into their space, water in hand and she froze watching the man from across the bullpen. From behind it looked as if his hand was busy…..fondling…himself. But she knew McGee would never do that, however there was no harm in having some fun with it right? Biting back her grin she quickly slid up next to Tony and turned his face towards Tim who was still preoccupied. Quicker than she had ever seen him move, Tony had whipped out his cellphone and began recording the event. Filming enough to keep him satisfied Tony snickered.

"Ah, to think people once questioned the need for a video camera in a cellphone." He taunted, getting McGee's attention. Tim whipped around in alarm and his eyes widened in horror as he watched the newly made video.

"Tony." He grumbled in annoyance. Tony ignored him and gleefully made his way over to show Ziva who was now free.

"Wait till you see this." he chuckled, leaning down to give her a good look at his phone.

"Any ideas?" he asked innocently. Ziva laughed.

"He's definitely not making cappuccino." She mused with a grin. McGee glowered in embarrassment at his desk.

"There's no way he's got an STD." Tony added, the two of them looking over at Tim curiously.

"I was itching. It's poison ivy and its spreading ok?" McGee spat defensively.

"Oh sweetie. Isn't this your second run in with the stuff?" Claire asked with a sympathetic grimace.

"Maybe you outa learn what it looks like." Tony added with a pointed stare.

"And avoid it!" Ziva imputed.

"I thought I did" McGee whimpered dismally.

"This is killing me. Gibbs told me to check out the forest I should have just told him…."

"Tell me what McGee?" Gibbs asked as he arrived, conveniently behind Tim.

"Nothing!" McGee gasped in despair.

"Well that probably would have been a good idea McGee. Baking soda and vinegar, you make a paste and slap it on." Gibbs informed the man, already knowing his dilemma.

"Ok thank you, thank you, boss!" McGee bolted out of his seat.

"Not now McGee, after we catch the terrorist." Gibbs caught him before he could clear the room. The other three agents grinned with both amusement and sympathy.

"Ugh that might be a while." Tim lamented as he uncomfortably waddled back to his desk.

"All the club guests check out, local Leos report no unusual activity in the area." he explained.

"DiNozzo?" Gibbs called.

"I've gone through the last month of the club's video surveillance. If the terrorist cell was casing the joint they hid their tracks very well." Tony sighed as he relayed the information.

"Your contact at Interpol?" Gibbs turned to Ziva.

"He said there was almost no uptake in chatter prior to the explosion." She told him with a frown.

"It could be home grown bad boys boss." Tony imputed.

"Still there should be some chatter no matter who it is." Claire countered.

"So if the terrorist cell is operating, they found a way to do so without leaving a shred of evidence." Ziva pointed out.

"Other than a dead marine?" Gibbs quipped dryly before walking away. Tony nodded in approval.

"Nice." He whispered with a grin. He reached around Ziva to hold a fist out for Claire who grinned in amusement before lightly returning the fist bump.

...

After getting a tip from the Director that there was a suspected homegrown terrorist cell, the team headed out to a warehouse to meet up with Colonel Mann's team. They pulled up in the car behind all the military vehicles as the Colonel was giving her men orders.

"CID beat us to the punch again, that's twice in one week." Tony complained as they exited the car.

"I didn't know this was a race DiNozzo." Gibbs quipped, sparing the man a glance as he continued towards the others.

"Oh no its not, I'm just not used to these joint efforts." Tony backtracked as the other three joined him. As Gibbs continued Tony winced, glancing at Claire beside him. That was certainly new.

"Glad to see you finally made it. To be honest I thought you'd beat me here and head on without me." Colonel Mann commented as she readied her gun. Pulling the strap over her head she walked on with Gibbs alongside her.

"I thought you said I was the one with trust issue?" Gibbs smirked in amusement. The NCIS agents trailed behind, remaining silent as they watched the interaction. Forming up the CID lead the way into the warehouse and quickly fanned out in the large room. NCIS came in the middle guns drawn as the large flow of agents filled the building. Soon the room was filled with shouts of 'clear' from all around, allowing the agents to lower their weapons. On the wall the words 'Death To America' were spray painted in red.

"Oh that's original." Claire muttered as she walked towards the desks under the words.

"Subway maps, national monuments, bridge blueprints." Colonel Mann read over the map alongside her.

"Potential targets." Ziva helpfully pointed out.

"Well they sure weren't sightseeing." Claire countered with a 'duh' look in her direction. Ziva pursed her lips. Claire turned around fully and frowned as she watched Tony stare up at the ceiling.

"What are you staring at?" she muttered, standing beside him and looking up into the rafters. Her eyes widened.

"Uh I think I know who their target is boss." Tony commented, pointing up at the large box in the middle of the ceiling rafters.

"Us." Claire nodded as the rest of the team stared up at the bomb.

"Alright secure the building now!" Colonel Mann shouted, heading towards the door.

"Ziva, Tony out the back door. No one in until EOD gets here." Gibbs ordered, the two taking off to the other side of the room. Gibbs waited and made sure everyone was out before leaving through the front door. Almost as soon as the door closed behind him the back one opened up; Tony, Claire, and Ziva running back inside. Ziva leading the way while the other two were trying to stop her.

"Ziva? Hey what the hell are you doing?" Tony whisper shouted incredulously at her. Ziva stared at the bomb and started taking off her NCIS jacket.

"I can disarm it." She told him and made her way over the machinery, climbing her way towards the rafters.

"Just because you can doesn't mean you should." Claire pointed out, hovering by the door and peering outside.

"Ok great, let's go outside and talk about this." Tony insisted worriedly.

"If it detonates before EOD gets here, we'll lose evidence."

"And our lives." Claire pointed out.

"Well what a bummer…" Tony rolled his eyes and began climbing up after her.

"…it's a real shame. Ziva! Ziva!" Tony shouted urgently as she continued just ahead of him.

"Ugh this has to be the stupidest thing any human being has ever done." Tony whined as he held on to the piping around the beams.

"Then why are you following me Tony?" Ziva questioned, not looking back as she headed for the bomb.

"I don't freaking know!" he spat anxiously. Tony continued to whimper anxiously as the duo carefully made their way through the framework before finally sitting on the beams right next to the bomb. Ziva slowly pulled out her pocketknife and set it down gently on top of the cans that made up the bomb.

"Here, hold this." she instructed, handing Tony the cell phone that would be the detonator. He stared at her with wide eyes.

"You have any idea what's gonna happen if this cellphone rings?" he pointed out. Ziva closed her eyes and shook out her hands to get rid of her building nerves. Letting out a breath she gently picked up the box where the wires connected and slowly used her knife to slide off the lid. Tony watched her anxiously as the licked her lips, knowing she was nervous too.

"I can see down your shirt right now." Tony joked, staring at her intently. From the floor Claire pursed her lips and shot him a deadpan stare. Shaking her head she turned back to peek out the door, as she was still on lookout duty. In the rafters Ziva's lips quirked up in amusement.

"I don't think your new girlfriend would like that." She pointed out. Tony frowned.

"What are you talking about…I don't know what you're talking about." He quickly fired off. Claire's eyes shut upwards, trying not to groan at how bad he was hiding it.

"I'm talking about you. and the fact that you no longer stare at every woman as they pass you by." Ziva calmly answered, still very focused on finding the correct wire. Claire bit her lip to stifle a grin.

"Well I'm looking down your shirt right now." Tony pointed out childishly.

"See anything good?" she continued.

"Yea, real good. But I'm not entirely sure it's worth dying…" he grunted nervously as Ziva suddenly cut one of the wires. They both sighed as nothing happened.

"…over" he finished heavily.

"Not worth dying over….I'll remember that." She pursed her lips teasingly as she zipped her shirt the rest of the way up. Tony stared at her with a grin.

"What if I said it was?" he asked curiously.

"Now you'll never know." She hummed. Tony nodded thoughtfully and quickly brought himself back down to the ground, Ziva following after him. Once the two of them had dismounted Claire made her way over to meet them in the middle.

"Alright…..so who is going to tell Gibbs that we didn't listen to orders and you two nearly killed yourself?" she inquired, her posture screaming that she was not taking the fall for this one. Tony gulped and looked over at Ziva.

"Well since it was your bad idea, I vote you tell the boss man." He suggested. Ziva narrowed her eyes at the other two but huffed out a 'fine' and made her way across the warehouse. Once she was out of view Claire reared back and punched Tony in the shoulder…hard. Tony squealed in pain and stared at her with wide eyes.

"Wh.."

"What is wrong with you!? You let her go up there and then on top of it you kept following. While I can appreciate the loyalty to teammates I still think it was stupid to risk you life unnecessarily like that." She growled, not letting him get a word in. Tony nodded, knowing she was right.

"But I didn't blow up…I'm right here. However, taking a beating from my girlfriend isn't exactly healthy for me either." he joked pointedly, attempting to placate her. Claire glared at him.

"Better to have a bruise than being blown up."

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Once the whole fiasco with the bomb had blown over, we all headed back to headquarters with the new information we had gathered from the warehouse. Tony was flipping through the pictures that were taken at the warehouse.

"The bomb was set to go off when the cell was called." he explained, as he held the remote.

"It's prepaid and disposable, never been used." Ziva added.

"So there's no call log." I finished with a frown.

"Thanks to our bomb disposal expert, we still have plenty to work with." Tony pointed out, shooting Ziva a glance from across Gibbs.

"Looks like 2 or 3 people were staying there." Ziva explained as we continued through pictures.

"Abby is processing it." I continued for her. Gibbs nodded.

"Nice job Ziva." He complimented before walking off. Ziva stood there looking at the screen with a satisfied grin. However, Tony and I were less than amused.

"You disobey me like that again, I'll kick your ass back to Israel." Gibbs added once he sat down. At this I grinned, satisfied with that outcome. Colonel Mann entered their bullpen, allowing the rest of us to scatter to our respective desks.

"The CIA refuses to let us talk to their source directly." She sighed, standing in front of Gibb's desk.

"They're protective." Gibbs muttered.

"Well the right hand still isn't talking to the left hand and we have no idea what this source actually said." She refuted.

"McGee." Gibbs called, without looking up from his computer.

"Yea, almost there boss." Tim responded as he typed away.

"You..you're not hacking the CIA." Colonel Mann looked to Gibbs in disbelief. Gibbs looked up at her innocently.

"No, no, no Homeland Security. They post a redundant CIA archive." McGee quickly corrected.

"Alright my, my superiors aren't going to like this." she shook her head uncomfortably.

"Don't tell them." Gibbs shrugged. The colonel stared at him in shocked amusement.

"Smart and devious. That's a dangerous combination." She mused, earning a grin from Gibbs.

"You forgot charming." He pointed out. The other four of us shared mildly disgusted and scandalized expressions. Watching Gibbs flirt so openly was just bizarre.

"Ok we're in." McGee announced, thankfully cutting off the sexual tension.

"No, I didn't." the Colonel quickly answered Gibbs before joining mcgee.

"Ok the informant's name in Mamo Shariff. He is from Lebanon, arrested in Beirut for extortion by Interpol…"

"He helped break one of our stolen weapons rings in one of our bases in Turkey…"

"…and then the CIA moved him to the states. Been a retainer since then. He owns a small convenience store in Rosslyn, Virginia." McGee finished, holding up the address which Colonel Mann snatched out of his hand. With that the Colonel and Gibbs made their way to the elevators chatting the whole way. The remaining four of us stared at one another in bewilderment, wondering what was going on. But none of us we ever going to comment on it aloud while at the office. That was just tempting fate.

...

 **3rd Person POV:**

Soon enough both Gibbs and Mann were back from interrogating the informant. As they did Gibbs waited for a beat, letting Colonel Mann step out of the elevator first. From next to Ziva's desk McGee's eyes bugged slightly.

"Did you see that?" McGee whispered. Ziva frowned and turned her head back at the two exiting the elevator.

"See what?"

"Gibbs, he let her go first. He never lets anyone go first." he quickly pointed out. Gibbs rounded the corner and held a video tape to McGee.

"Give this to Abby." He instructed. McGee nodded as he took it, the gossip quickly forgotten.

"Get an ID on anyone buying a slurpee." Gibbs added. Looking up he noticed that Ziva, McGee, and Claire were staring at the colonel who was confused as to why she was getting so much attention.

"Where's DiNozzo?" Gibbs questioned, ignoring all the looks.

"Uh at a doctor's appointment." Claire piped up.

"I want him on that grocery store." Gibbs instructed as he walked back out of the cubicles.

"He said he would be back ASAP." Claire called. Gibbs glanced back at her pointedly.

"I will get him back here faster." She muttered with a nod.

...

At the hospital Tony was sitting against the hood of his car smiling down at the photos of Claire on his phone camera. His vision was blocked when her name came up on the screen instead.

"Claire?" Tony whispered over the phone. On the other end Claire frowned.

"You're not really with a doctor, are you?" she asked, ducking under the stairwell as she spotted Gibbs.

"As a matter of fact, I am." Tony corrected. Technically he wasn't lying.

"Is this a personal reason or work related?" she pursed her lip. Tony hesitated, giving her the answer she was looking for.

"Anything wrong. Do you need help?" Claire pushed. Tony sighed, running his hand down his face.

"No. Everything is fine, and I'll be back when I finish."

"Well Gibbs keeps looking at your desk and his watch." she warned. Tony held his phone between his ear and his shoulder so he would be able to look at his own watch.

"Tell him I'll be right there." He assured.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Claire inquired.

"I was fine." Tony sighed pointedly. Claire glared at the phone.

"Well sorry for ruining it." She snapped irritably.

"No….that's not…..I'm sorry it wasn't you. I'll be there soon." Tony quickly assured her, his mental exhaustion seeping through. After a moment of silence, he hung up leaving Claire even more frustrated with whatever he had been dragged into.

...

"Homeland Security says there's an uptake in chatter. Something is definitely going on." Ziva informed Gibbs as she leaned on his desk. Before he could answer, Gibbs' attention was drawn away by Tony who had finally showed up.

"Better have a fatal disease DiNozzo." He warned.

"Josh's mom called; he's looking for payback. He wants to skip Princeton and join the Marines. I went to talk him out of it." Tony explained gently.

"Did you?" Gibbs inquired, concerned as well for the boy. Tony pursed his lips thoughtfully.

"I don't know." He admitted. There wasn't much he could do until Josh moved one way or the other.

"McGee turn this up. Gibbs." Colonel Mann requested, McGee turning up the small TV broadcasting the news. The team gathered around the screen listening to the reporter explain that the store went up in flames, the owner still inside.

"That's Sharif's place." She turned to Gibbs solemnly. He scowled at the screen.

"McGee make sure we get the body and the write-up transferred over to NCIS. Not much else we can do now. Go home, get some sleep and be back here early tomorrow." Gibbs dismissed, his mood officially fouled up. Everyone nodded silently before grabbing their gear. They wouldn't be getting much sleep but some was better than none. In the parking lot everyone split off towards their individual cars, waving at one another tiredly. Claire and Tony headed over to their vehicles, parked side by side.

"So, I know the talk with Josh didn't take you multiple hours. What were you doing at the hospital?" Claire ventured, looking over at Tony. He pursed his lips and paused in between their cars.

"Just some personal stuff, nothing to worry about." He quietly assured. Claire narrowed her eyes at him.

"You already had your annual checkup. So either there is something wrong with you or.."

"..Or it's something that I can take care of personally." Tony insisted, giving her a stern look. Claire sighed and ran a hand through her hair, tugging at the knots that had formed throughout the day.

"Tony I don't like this. Whatever the director has you doing…" she trailed off, taking a moment to collect her thoughts.

"You shouldn't be doing any assignment 'personally'. Everyone should have at least one form of backup and I don't think you do." She explained, being sure to put air quotes around 'personally'. Tony nodded absently, watching her. He hated keeping things from her and he knew she was right. But he just couldn't tell her or ask for help even though he was pretty sure he was going to need it soon if things continued to progress.

"I know…but I just...can't. You need to drop it." He insisted gently. Claire bit her lip but didn't answer.

"I'll see you in the morning, ok?" Tony gently took her hand and squeezed it before walking back around to his driver side.

"Night." She whispered mostly to herself as she got into her own car.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

The next morning Abby had made a breakthrough with the video feed from Shariff's store. After hours of lipreading she finally pinpointed a suspect.

"According to Maryland DMV records the man is Abraham Moosala, born in 1974. Served three years for robbing a convenient store in Baltimore. Almost got away with $86 and some DingDongs." Ziva explained, pulling up the man's DMV photo. With a frown she turned to me.

"What is a Ding..Dong?" she inquired in confusion. I smirked in amusement.

"Uh it's a cheap pastry. Little chocolate cake with a cream filling." I quietly explained, grinning when Ziva nodded in understanding. We both turned back to the main conversation.

"He spent some time in a psych ward. Then he converted to a radical sect of Islam." McGee muttered, typing away in search of more information.

"Got a last known place for him?" Colonel Mann inquired. McGee shook his head regretfully.

"His parole officer hasn't heard from him in over a year." I elaborated.

"There's no credit cards, no car registrations. Boss, this guy has gone off the grid." McGee added with a sigh.

"I'll check the BOLO, see if there's any hits." Ziva commented, heading over to her desk.

"See if CID should have intel on Abraham's sect, I'll make a few calls." Colonel Mann imputed before taking off towards a phone.

"I'm going to coordinate with local LEOs and highway patrols…where is Tony?" McGee pointed to the empty desk curiously.

"Don't worry about Tony. Tony is fine." Gibbs assured vaguely before answering his cell. Abby asking for his presence had Gibbs leaving for the lab, the Colonel on his tail. Once the two had left the area McGee peeked over his computer.

"Claire, Tony is…?" he questioned. I frowned thoughtfully for a moment before shrugging. I don't know where he went much anymore.

With still no sign of Tony, Gibbs came back upstairs with the detonator cell number that Abby retrieved.

"The incoming call came from the warehouse Shariff gave the CIA. Must be where Abraham was testing the detonator." McGee pulled up a grid map of the area.

"Well he's not there now." Gibbs pointed out.

"The place has been crawling with EODs since yesterday." Mann tacked on.

"Trace that call." Gibbs requested watching McGee monitor.

"It's on, Ziva trace that call." McGee called.

"Almost done." She assured.

"I'm having Ziva track the cell tower frequencies operating in the cell track's requests." McGee mumbled. Gibbs frowned at him.

"She's waiting for it to pop up on the radar again." I supplied for McGee.

"McGee it just powered up." Ziva alerted.

"Tell me he's not making a call." Gibbs groaned as McGee bolted over to her desk.

"Nope, not yet." McGee sighed a little as he analyzed the feed.

"I've got his location. Penn street, and Wisconsin." McGee read off. Gibbs nodded and headed for the elevator, the rest of us on his heels.

...

In Georgetown Gibbs fixed his earwig one last time as he approached where the cell was located, the rest of us were following closely behind.

"You guys weren't planning on starting without me were ya?" Tony joked as he jogged up to us. I glanced over at him questioningly.

"Who's that?" Ziva shot back, earning a small snicker from me. Colonel Mann and Gibbs made their way through the street, while quietly giving orders to clear the street and secure the area surrounding it.

"DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"Princeton." Was the one-word answer. Josh had decided to go into law at Princeton. Thus, why he had been absent. I smiled over at Tony, who grinned right back. At least Josh was making a well thought out decision and not jumping in headfirst for revenge.

"There, Abraham on the bench." Colonel Mann pointed out the man playing a game on his phone, backpack in his lap.

"If he sees us clear the area he may detonate." Ziva pointed out.

"If it's a trip wire any of these people may detonate it." Mann countered.

"On the second bomb he only used a cell phone." I pointed out.

"This cellphone isn't connected to the backpack?" Tony inquired, glancing up at the man.

"Tripwire, cellphone. Who knows how he armed this one?" Gibb mused, striping off his NCIS jacket.

"Deadman switch?" Tony guessed again.

"Or not." He deadpanned, watching Gibbs take off any indicators that he was NCIS.

"DiNozzo, you keep your ears on me." Gibbs ordered leaving his jacket behind and snatching a khaki one off a bench. He stripped off his earwig and made his way towards the bomber. I gently tugged Colonel Mann to crouch behind one of the vending carts with the rest of us.

"What the hell is he doing?" she inquired.

"What he always does." Gibbs continued his way through the crowd, snatching a hat off another man's head as he powered on.

"Four marriages, negotiating is probably not his thing." Mann pointed out.

"You'd be surprised." I hummed.

"Well I have been so far." She deadpanned. Gibbs picked up a newspaper before walking over and casually walking by Abraham, who was playing a game on his phone.

"The cell is not the detonator." He relayed through his wrist mic, throwing away the paper. After a moment of thought Gibbs went over on the bench next to Abraham.

"My son Tony plays that same game. What's your name?" Gibbs started the conversation. Tony pursed his lips indignantly.

"Abraham." The man droned in disinterest.

"Hey Abraham, I'm Jethro." Gibbs held out his hand to shake. As Abraham reached out, I caught sight of the wire around his wrist which was threaded into the backpack. By Gibb's expression he did too.

"Jethro." The man gasped in interest.

"That's the name they gave me." Gibbs nodded as he settled onto the bench.

"That means 'Friend of God', the father in law of Moses. He walked over with the Israelites when God parted the Red Sea." Abraham explained excitedly.

"Do you know why God parted the Red Sea?" Abraham continued.

"No." Gibbs answered, trying to get a better look at the wire.

"To show the people that sea creatures were totally dependent on God's will…."

"What's he talking about." McGee frowned in confusion as Abraham continued on.

"I'd say this guy is a few puppies short of a pet shop." Tony commented.

"Most suicide bombers are." Ziva pointed out.

"Abraham can I ask you a question?" Gibbs jumped in, knowing we were running out of time. Abraham nodded hesitantly.

"Do you think its ok for someone to hurt innocent people?" he asked gently.

"No, Jethro!" Abraham insisted as if he was crazy to ask such a question.

"I didn't think so. What are you doing here Abraham?" Gibbs asked in confusion.

"I'm waiting for my friend. He's gonna take me to dinner." Abraham answered.

"Did your friend give you this backpack?" Abraham nodded.

"About an hour ago. He said it's so I don't lose it." Abraham indicated the wire around his wrist to Gibbs.

"What's this friend's name?" Gibbs asked.

"Sheriff." Our informant…..

"So who's laying in autopsy then?" Tony asked. Abraham looked around at the crowd on the edges of the street with a frown.

"He was supposed to meet me here at 3 o'clock." That was about a minute from now.

"Ziva!" Gibbs shouted, not wanting to waste any more time on getting the bomb disarmed. At his call all of us sprinted forward.

"Right behind you!" Ziva bolted towards the bag.

"Abraham is it alright if we look in your backpack?" Gibbs offered gently. Abraham nodded in confusion as the rest of the us gathered around him.

"EOD is still on their way boss." Tony pointed out.

"We're out of time." Mann pointed out.

"Do you want me to defuse it because before you said you'd kick my ass if…"

"Do it!" Gibbs barked, cutting off Ziva's rambling as she already began looking over the device.

"The rest of you go, go on get out of here." Gibbs shooed his hands at us. We all glanced at one another briefly before crouching down next to the bench. We weren't going anywhere.

"30 seconds." I pointed out, watching the red digital numbers get smaller.

"Army knife." Ziva held out her hand to Tony who quickly handed her his own.

"What's your name?" Abraham asked McGee, not fully understanding the situation. McGee blinked in confusion before realizing who Abraham was addressing.

"Uh…Tim." McGee muttered.

"It means he who is about to wet his pants." Tony quipped anxiously. We all held out breath as the seconds ticked down and Ziva slowly analyzed the wires. After what seemed to be an eternity, she snipped the red one, everyone wincing before sighing in relief as the bomb stopped at the 5 second mark. It was a bit too close for comfort.

"Wh…Why is he gonna wet his pants?" Abraham asked innocently, looking to Tony. I grinned and let out a light chuckle. Meanwhile Gibbs was up and staring at the crowds around us.

"He's here." He muttered.

"No, not anymore." Mann countered with a frown. I glanced around at the crowds around us with a frown. Shariff was in the wind


	13. Chapter 13

**...I will explain everything at the end of the chapter. But here is the bombshell I promised, so don't hate me for it! NCIS is built on angst.**

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

Tony quietly entered the director's office, spotting her behind the desk. She had requested to see him after everyone else had gone home. Usually this is when she chose to discuss his undercover OP but recently there hadn't been any big developments.

"You wanted to see me director?" he began, coming to stand in front of her desk.

"I think it's time to take the next step in the La Granuii mission." she suggested calmly. Tony frowned as he stared at her warily.

"I don't think I understand?" he lied. He had a strong feeling about what the next step was, and he wasn't too keen on going that direction.

"I need you to go deeper. You have already established yourself as an acquaintance with Ms. Beniot but it has reached its limits. In one of your last notes you mentioned she may be developing feelings for you. I want you to pursue a romantic relationship with her." Jenny elaborated for him. Tony swallowed. He was afraid of that.

"No disrespect Director, but what about another agent. I'm currently in a relationship and would prefer to keep this one. Besides, what about not getting emotionally involved in a case?" he suggested, wanting nothing more than to get out of this sticky situation. If he couldn't tell Claire about him 'dating' another girl than that would cause some major issues. It was already uncomfortable enough not being able to tell her that he was assigned to this woman because of her father. Claire wasn't stupid; she was already getting more suspicious.

"You are the best candidate for this, Tony. And I trust that you will be able to keep yourself emotionally distant." She countered. Tony nodded in understanding.

"Then what about Claire? She could befriend Ms. Benoît and infiltrate that way. It won't take much as both are very integrated in my life at the moment. You know girl talk will go a lot farther than what I can do as a friend. Besides it would be nice to have a partner in this." he tried again. This way he could keep his girlfriend. But the look on Jenny's face told him otherwise.

"I already told you that I am your partner and lovers get to know their other half much better and deeper than friends do Agent DiNozzo." She coolly countered. Tony sighed and ran a hand through his hair, trying to maintain his rising distress.

"Director Shepherd, I am in a relationship at the moment and 'dating' another woman leaves me with very few choices in the situation and telling her about this is not one of them." He protested once again. Jenny smiled knowingly…..but not in a way that made him comfortable. It set him on edge.

"You are aware that agent relations are strongly frowned upon here at NCIS, right Mr. DiNozzo?" Jenny asked him. Tony tensed. She knew.

"Director I assure you it's not causing any problems. You are one of the few that know about it." He insisted, hoping that he could keep what he had, but her expression didn't lead him to believe it possible. This could only end badly.

"I could easily discern that it is a problem and have a certain one of you removed from the team and stationed in another unit…maybe somewhere over in the middle east? Agents working within the Taliban are always in short supply." She pointed out, basically threatening Tony without actually saying it. But Tony knew what she was implying; he wouldn't have that.

"That has the highest death rates of any other unit. I'm not having you send her there." He defended with a glare. They both knew what he would have to do in order to keep his deep cover and he was livid. Tony was at a loss, he couldn't tell Claire, he couldn't tell Gibbs. He knew he would have to follow out the director's orders, and to do it well he would have to do something that would break him up inside. It was either this or basically sign Claire's death sentence and he didn't want that. At least this way he could have her close and where he could protect her.

"I trust you will make the right decision." Jenny pushed, her eyes staring at him pointedly. Tony clenched his jaw, staring right back at her unwavering gaze.

"Fine. Director." He grit out, leveling her with a murderous glare. Jenny grinned deviously, knowing she had won the battle and would get her inside man. Without another word Tony stormed out of her office, dreading what was about to happen to him. He was going to lose everything he ever cared about for some shot in the dark mission.

...

Tony paced back and forth in his apartment, his stomach sunk all the way down to the floor….. all the way down to the basement really. He couldn't stomach this. How could he do this to her?! Then again how could he not. He couldn't let Jenny get ahold of Claire; he was choosing the lesser of the two evils. If Claire knew about all this she would go after Jenny and he didn't want to think about what would happen. No this was the best option; she could be happy later on and that's what he wanted. The farther she was from the mess Jenny had gotten him into the better. Yet as he tried to rationalize his decisions, tears threatened to break through the surface. Before he could talk himself out of it, there was a knock on the door. Tony's heart jumped up into his throat. Here comes the worst day of his life. Slowly walking over, he opened the door letting in Claire who was watching him worriedly.

"Tony is everything ok? You sounded really off on the phone." She inquired, slipping out of her jacket and hanging it up. Not getting a response she turned to see Tony staring at the now closed door with a pained expression.

"Tony?" she asked again softly, walking over to put her hand on his arm in comfort. However, he subtly shrugged out of her hold, turning and raking a hand down his face. Claire's frown deepened in concern.

"Tony what's going on?" At her concerned tone, he finally turned to face her with his features schooled.

"I…uh….we need to talk about some things." He shakily began, trying to keep himself together. He just needed to get the words out.

"Okay.." she walked over and sat on the couch waiting for Tony to calm down enough to speak.

"I think…..I think we need to separate for a while." He eventually whispered out, not looking up from the floor. Claire blinked.

"You…what?" she asked in confusion. Claire stared hard at him, trying to spot anything in his expression that could give her a hint of what was going through his head.

"We…..we need to take a break from each other. Probably indefinitely." He repeated, finally looking up. Claire was startled by the pain in his expression.

"Tony, what brought this on? If I made you feel uncomfortable about the domestic comment a few days ago…"

"No, no, no it's not that. I just….I think this is the best thing for you…us." Claire stood and eyed him curiously at the slip up.

"You said me….why is this the best thing for me?" she questioned. Tony sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Nothing just please…"

"Tony tell me what brought this on." She insisted.

"I can't." he huffed out, trying to keep it together. Claire reached for him but Tony flinched away. She stayed put, staring at him. Tony finally moved his eyes to meet hers, looking back at her intently. Begging for her to understand what he couldn't say.

"Is this about your meetings with Jenny?" she asked. Tony didn't answer but he didn't need to.

"Tony, if she's asking something of you that's unsanctioned….you need to tell me. This isn't right."

"Claire stop. There is nothing to worry about.

"Of course there is! What's going on, why are you breaking up with me?" she pushed, making her way closer to him. Tony instinctively reached out to comfort her and pulled her in close. He held her tight, just taking in the moment. Wanting to be as close to her as possible.

"Please. I can't tell you. But I need you to promise me that you'll stay out of it. I can't bring you in to this, for your own safety." He whispered urgently, holding her close to him.

"Screw my safety. I made a promise to have your back, let me help." She begged, realizing that he wasn't going to budge on this. He was pushing her away and she was trying desperately to change his mind. Whatever deal he had with Jenny was going to get him in trouble, she knew it.

"No. I need to do this." he protested, slowly de-tangling himself from her. Claire shook her head in protest.

"So are you breaking this off for safety or because you're done with us?" she asked him intently. Tony swallowed.

"I just think it's for the best." He avoided. Claire's jaw clenched.

"Unless you can look me in the eye and say you don't care about me, I'm not dropping this." she whispered. Tony stared into her eyes but he couldn't say it.

"You need to go, you need to let me go." He whispered instead. Claire nodded shakily.

"Fine. But know Tony DiNozzo that I love you, and I'm not letting this go. I'll let you have your space but I'm not gonna drop this." she told him sternly, her voice wobbling. Those three words broke him. Tony pushed back tears as he watched her back towards the door. Claire sniffed, wiping at her nose.

"This is probably the worst moment to say 'I love you' for the first time huh?" she smiled bitterly. Tony let the tears slip out, her words cutting him deep. But he knew he couldn't say it back. Not when he was trying so hard to put distance between them for her own good. He loved her, and he wanted to tell her so badly it physically hurt.

"You need to go Claire. We're done. Just let it be." Tony choked out, unable to stand her presence any longer. If she continued he wouldn't be able to go through with his plan. Claire nodded stiffly, wiping at another tear that fell before walking out the door. As the slam echoes behind her, Tony felt intense loneliness and pain that came with how hollow he suddenly felt.

...

Claire eventually made it to her car, despite her blurred vision. This was his decision and if he was so set on it there was nothing she could do. He wanted her away, but she didn't know why. She knew he loved her back, even if he had never said it. But he wanted her out of his life for the moment. Damn the DiNozzo pride and stubbornness. Turning on her car she sat there listening to the radio. As she listened, she smiled humorlessly at how ironic the timing of the song was….

...

 _Still gotta walk into a crowded room  
With the radio on  
Crack a smile and crack a beer like it don't bother you  
Like it ain't your song that's on_

 _Still gotta cross the bridge to get to work  
The one by her place  
Make it through the nine to five like you don't hurt  
It goes that way_

...

Claire drove home, her eyes drawn to all the places they used to frequent as she did. Her heart hurt to think that they would just be memories here soon. They didn't mean anything significant anymore, just pain. Just a place where she was happy. Another onset of tears came up and she let them run. She had tonight to mourn, tomorrow she could be called in to work and that was no place to be emotional especially if he was gonna be there. She didn't care if she looked like a mess tonight. It's not like anyone would see it. Claire knew she had to compose herself and except that fact that it was all over. All those years of progress thrown to the side. She had to be able to continue working with Tony. Maybe there was a good reason for rule 12. Work made romance complicated.

...

 _When someone stops loving you  
It don't make the evening news  
It don't keep the sun from rising, the clock from winding, your heart from beating  
Even when you want it to  
When someone stops loving you_

...

The next morning Tony awoke with a heavy heart. He could admit that he cried….a lot. But no one would know that he did. They hadn't got called in just yet but he couldn't sleep. Not with the emotional turmoil that was going on in his heart. Looking at his nightstand he smiled wistfully. Claire was smiling back at him, her arms wrapped tightly around his torso as he smiled down at her, completely ignoring the camera. Picking it up he frowned, burying back another wave of pain. He had let her go, and it hurt like hell. A ring from his cell caught his attention, looking over the text he frowned even more. Jenny had sent him some details about where Jeanne would be. Another mission for him. Setting the picture down gently he slowly stood to get ready for the day. Opening his closet, he grabbed the first decent shirt he could find. Once he took it off the hanger he stared at it sadly. This was Claire's favorite shirt on him. All he could think about was her hands running over it, swiftly undoing the buttons as he kissed her long and hard. Tony's heart clenched again, being reminded of how much he loved her.

...

 _Still gotta button up your collared shirt  
The one she used to button down  
Sleep on the mattress where her body left a curve  
Or maybe just the couch_

...

Claire stretched her back as she sat up on the couch. She had slept there instead of the bed. It was just too big, too empty now. The night before she had tried to sleep but the faint smell of his cologne that lingered sent her into sobs. She had to get some form of sleep if she was going to make it through these next couple weeks.

...

 _Still gotta keep her number in your phone  
In case she calls back  
One night when she's drunk and all alone  
Yeah, you pray for that_

...

As Tony watched from the café window he scrolled through his phone, looking to see if Jenny had called him. As he scrolled through the recent calls his finger froze when it passed a familiar number. He swallowed thickly, staring at Claire's number. He couldn't dial it, he couldn't delete it. It just sat there taunting him, reminding him of how stupid this whole situation was. Damn Jenny. Quickly closing it he glanced up and looked over to where Jeanne was. However, the doctor was now gone and nowhere in sight. Tony sighed. Jenny would be pissed that he lost his chance to 'run' into her, but right now he couldn't care less.

...

 _When someone stops loving you  
It don't make the evening news  
It don't keep the sun from rising, the clock from winding, your heart from beating  
Even when you want it to  
When someone stops loving you_

...

Claire took the time she had off to sort through her room. The quicker she cleared out his things, the faster she could get over this. As she did she stumbled across one of his shirts that she loved to sleep in. Picking it up she held it up to toss but couldn't seem to release it. Instead she pulled it tight to her chest and slid down the wall, suddenly out of energy. A tear slipped down her face and she hugged it tight and took in the scent. No matter how much she wanted to forget, she couldn't, she still loved him.

Tony trudged home tiredly. All he wanted to do now was sit down and drink. But first he needed a shower. Turning on the hot water he slipped in blindly and stood there quietly, just letting the water roll down his body. After a few minutes he reached over for his shampoo but picked up the wrong one. He picked up hers. Tony stared at it for a moment before opening it and rubbing it all along his hands. Bringing them to his face he smiled tearfully, taking in the fruity scent that was always clinging to her hair. He sat down in the shower, holding his hands to his nose. He loved that scent. He loved her, and now she wasn't his.

...

 _The hardest part about it is  
There ain't a switch that you can flip  
'Cause you can't stop loving them_

 _When someone stops loving you  
When someone stops loving you  
It don't keep the sun from rising, the clock from winding, your heart from beating  
Even when you want it to  
When someone stops loving you  
When someone stops loving you  
When someone stops loving you_

[When Someone Stops Loving You- Little Big Town]

...

 **Don't hate me! I dislike this just as much as ya'll do but in order to keep the Jeanne story line (because regardless of how I feel about it, it is a big story line in the show) I had to do something between Tony and Claire. After months of dwelling on this problem I felt that this way was the truest to Tony's character. I can't see him 'two-timing' someone he truely cared about nor could he get away with letting Claire in on the secret. Tony's a good but he has a good heart and is very loyal so this option seemed the best way to keep him true to form. Besides it was about time this story had some angst, because if not then it would just get boring. So this new dynamic will make for some interesting interactions in the future. Thanks for sticking with this so long and I hope this doesn't turn ya'll off from reading anymore. I assure you they are not done forever ;)...**


	14. Chapter 14

Once A Hero: [part 1]

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

The NCIS team met back in the office Monday morning after having taken the weekend off. As everyone had settled back into their desks, the atmosphere was noticeably off. McGee frowned as he glanced around the room, trying to place where the oddity was. After minutes of silence he finally realized it.

Silence.

The office was never silent while everyone was in. Looking up across from him he frowned at Claire who was buried in her paperwork, eyes never leaving her computer as she typed. Turning, McGee looked towards the other side of the bullpen at Tony who was in the same boat. The two of them were typically the focal point of conversation in their office, but this morning they hadn't said two words to one another. Continuing his scan, he caught Ziva's eye. From the expression on her face he could tell that she had picked up on the difference also.

"The Director is going to the retirement party for the Secretary of Defense tomorrow. DiNozzo, David I need you two to go with her as protection detail." Gibbs announced as he made his way into the bullpen.

"Conners you're going with them. One of the other agencies had their own security officers call in sick so we offered up an extra man. You're up for general security." He added, taking a seat at his desk. From across the bullpen Tony and Claire stared at one another warily; McGee and Ziva watched them in confusion. At the lingering silence Gibbs slowly looked up and glanced between the two of them.

"Is there a problem?" he asked threateningly. Tony and Claire glanced away sheepishly, muttering 'no'.

"Then get to it. You three need to get layouts of the event and clean up for tomorrow." Gibbs barked, sending them scurrying around. Gibbs watched silently as Tony and Claire skirted around one another uncomfortably. He narrowed his eyes curiously; hoping that whatever was going on wasn't going to come back to bite them.

...

The next evening, elegant string music played in the lobby of the hotel where many agency officials and congressmen had gathered for the evening. Everyone was chatting politely around the room while others were grabbing food from the buffet. On the outskirts of the event Tony winced as he stared longingly at the buffet next to him. Beside him was Ziva, both sporting business suits and earwigs. Tony slowly reached over for the Danish pastries. Ziva reached out and slapped his hand; Tony yelping quietly in pain as he jerked his hand back.

"We're not here to eat. We're here to protect the director." She sternly reminded. Tony sighed and turned to face her direction, however his eyes never stopped scanning the room.

"Ziva this is probably the most secure room in the country right now. CIA, DSS, ATF, FBI, the whole alphabet is here. State Troopers, Metro Cops, and NCIS's finest…..me." Ziva shot him a look.

"…and you….and Claire" he added offhandedly. She smirked as they glanced away from one another, looking back at the room.

"But me is hungry." He sighed, glancing back at the table wistfully.

" ** _You're always hungry."_** Claire shot back dryly from the other side of the room. Tony shot a glance that way, but she was had her head turned.

"These are public servants like us. This is free food." Tony added pointedly.

"So are defense contractors." Ziva mused. Tony pursed his lips.

"Low wage bandits who make a career of stealing from the public trough." he dismissed.

"Politicians." She added once again. Tony shot her a look.

"Ever seen a skinny politician?" he deadpanned pointedly. Ziva hummed and turned her head as the large doors opened across the way.

 ** _"Our guest of honor has just arrived."_** Claire informed. A small crowd of security came in along with the man of the hour.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the retiring Secretary of Defense of the United States of America." The man on the PA system announced as everyone turned and applauded the main the middle.

"I'm gonna get something to eat." Tony informed as he leaned down towards Ziva, sliding past her towards one of the buffet tables holding the meat. As Tony looked over the selections, Ziva's eyes shot upwards.

"Director!" she shouted in alarm, racing over and tackling Director Shepherd out of the way just as a man dropped onto the table next to them. Tony instantly pulled out his gun and began scanning the multiple balconies around them, looking for where the man had fallen from or any additional attack. Claire scanned the exits, keeping an eye out for anyone making a run for it. Meanwhile Tony slid next to the two women on the floor as they stood back up. Claire swiftly made her way over to join the group as Tony redirected his attention to the man lying prone on the now destroyed table.

"So much for an easy day." Claire muttered with a sigh. Pulling out her cell she dialed Gibbs.

...

When Gibbs and McGee arrived, Tony was inside talking with the local police about the situation. When Director Shepherd saw their approach, she made her way over to join them, filling them in on the situation and the name of the man on the floor. A marine, Sergeant Brian Wright.

...

Outside Claire and Ziva were talking with Andy Nelson, the senators aid, who was the last person to see Sergeant Wright. The paramedics were checking him over after his run in with the marine earlier, as he claimed.

"Mr. Nelson has been explaining how he got injured." Claire elaborated for Gibbs as he walked over to join them. She shared a skeptical look with Gibbs over Nelson's head, neither trusting the politician. The man in question glanced up at Gibbs in surprise, his markings and bruising on his cheekbone more prominent now.

"He just came at me. He hit me, I fell down and then he ran away." Mr. Nelson surmised while Ziva jotted down some notes.

"Did you see him fall?" Gibbs asked. Nelson shook his head, touching his cheekbone tenderly.

"I just got out of there. I was down in the lobby to report it when he fell." He explained.

"Why were you on the sixth floor?" Ziva inquired.

"I was delivering a briefing paper to a defense contractor in one of the suites. Nordforce systems. I was walking towards the elevator." Andy Nelson elaborated.

"You see him before?" Gibbs asked.

"Every day." The older man with Andy finally spoke up. Gibbs glanced at him and the man grinned politely, holding his hand out.

"Congressman Gates." He introduced himself. Gibbs stared at him a moment before shaking his hand as the congressman continued talking.

"Well not the deceased. Just sad souls like him. The homeless." He mused empathetically.

"Unconfirmed." Claire corrected the man sharply.

"And a war vet. Or we'd be talking to metro police and not NCIS. Agent…" The man grinned at Gibbs knowingly.

"Special Agent Gibbs, and he was a marine." Gibbs answered briskly. Mr. Nelson glanced between the two as he listened intently.

"We need to do more to help the ones who come back broken." Gates boasted diplomatically.

"Yes, you do." Claire cut in, shooting the man a pointed stare. Gates glanced at Gibbs who was staring at him the same way. He nodded uncomfortably, unable to respond. Apparently, that was not the response he had expected to get.

"Well let's get that x-rayed, Andy. Unless agent Gibbs has any more questions about this unfortunate incident." Gates gently ushered Andy off the stretcher, helping to stabilize his aid as he limped. Claire walked around to join her boss, eyeing the congressmen.

"Did you pick up on what I did?" she asked, glancing sideways at her boss. He nodded in confirmation while Ziva's face scrunched up in confusion.

"Pick up on what?" Ziva frowned, looking between the two of them.

"The congressman thinks our marine was crazy and jumped." Gibbs explained.

"Well we just have to disprove that don't we." Claire murmured. As they made their way back into the main hall Gibbs spotted Tony holding a piece of bacon.

"DiNozzo…" Tony's head shot up in alarm.

"Boss" he greeted.

"Stop eating the evidence."

"Yes, boss." Tony frowned, setting down his plate as they passed by him. Claire glanced away as they brushed past one another. Watching her reaction Tony grit his teeth, choosing not to comment in present company.

"Got some preliminaries?" Gibbs asked, stopping next to Ducky and the victim.

"I find the ones who fall to be the saddest. Such a long time to contemplate one's end and no time to change one's mind." Claire glanced up at the multiple rows of balconies above, bothered by the thought.

"Well the injuries are consistent with a fall, except for the scraped knuckles. Possible in a fight before he went over the edge." Ducky pointed out.

"He's missing a shoe, no wallet. Although he had some dollars in his pocket. And a begging note asking for help." As Ducky explained his findings, Palmer handed the evidence bags over to Gibbs.

"The only real surprise is this." Dr. Mallard stood, taking the cloth from Palmer and gently unwrapping it to show the rest of the agents.

"A Bronze Star for Valor, and a Purple Heart." Claire murmured as the medals were unveiled.

"Two marine stars, it means he was wounded three times in battle." Ducky turned to explain to Palmer who looked at them curiously. Ducky turned back to Gibbs.

"I can't tell you why he died, but I can perhaps tell you how he lived. The man was a hero." Ducky sighed, looking down at the prone man on the floor. Gibbs phone rang.

"Yes Gibbs"

 _"Hey boss, I think this is where he launched."_ They could hear McGee's voice over the phone, and slightly in the room. Looking up they spotted McGee on a balcony.

 _"His shoe must have come off when he went over the side."_ McGee held up the object in his hand.

"Ok." Gibbs nodded and clicked off.

"Nelson said he was back downstairs when Wright fell. The question is, what was Sergeant Wright doing?" Ziva pointed out.

"Deciding whether to jump." Tony suggested dryly. Claire pursed her lips and shot him a disapproving look. He simply shrugged innocently, not wanting to antagonize her and turn her away from the first head on interaction he'd gotten all day.

"DiNozzo, photographs." Gibbs reminded. Tony nodded and went off to join McGee with the camera.

"DiNozzo." His boss called, causing Tony to pivot back around.

"The stairs." Gibbs gestured in the opposite direction without looking up from his work. Tony stared at him for beat, before reluctantly taking the long way up.

"Maybe the congressman was right? Maybe Sergeant Wright was crazy and jumped." Ziva suggested with a sigh. Claire gave her a grimace.

"Or maybe the Director was right….Politicians lie." Gibbs retorted pointedly. Ziva pursed her lips as he walked off.

"In this business I wouldn't ever suggest trusting a Politician right off the bat." Claire informed Ziva before following their boss.

...

 **Tony's POV:**

Back at the office all of us had been put on separate duties in the information search. However, once I had what I needed I went in search of my lunch, which I had been so deprived of earlier in the evening. Out of the corner of my eye I could spot all my coworkers watching me in mild disgust… but I was too busy digging aggressively into a large burger. Nothing like greased meat to heal the cracks of the heart.

"That's disgusting. How can you eat that?" Ziva muttered from the desk across from me. I just looked at her blankly, still chewing.

"You see Ziva, the human body is a finely tuned engine. None more finely tuned than mine.." she rolled her eyes.

"...Even the best engine needs fuel." I finished with a mumble; my cheeks still full.

"Especially if that engine is burning the midnight oil all the time." Claire muttered sourly, not looking up from her screen. I looked over at her sharply. She had been taking sharp digs at me all day and I would never admit it aloud, but it was starting to really sting. But then again, I was the one who twisted the knife in her back just a few days ago. It was too naïve of me to think that everything would run smoothly after that big blowout. I chose not to rise to the bait she was setting out. I needed to push back and prove that I was serious about keeping her away from my 'extracurriculars'. McGee and Ziva shared a questioning glance; the nosy people that they both are. Thankfully Gibbs made his way over to provide the perfect distraction from the tension.

"DiNozzo." I paused and looked up at the man.

"Boss?"

"Anything from the hotel registry?" Gibbs asked, leaning over my desk, his steely eyes narrowing at me. I paused to swallow what was in my mouth and sheepishly put the burger back in the box, before sliding it into the desk drawer.

"700 names on the registry, none of them Sergeant Wright." I answered meekly. Gibbs nodded before turning to the next one. Once he turned his back, I quickly retrieved my burger, being sure not to eat as ravenously this time around. Which was harder than I thought, seeing as it was my comfort food for the hour.

"Ziva, the congressman's aide?"

"Single, no criminal record, he's worked for the congressman for the past 7 years and according to Nordforce systems he briefly delivered the paperwork to their suite, but they can't put a time on it." She relayed.

"Boss, I just got off the phone with Wright's doctor in Bethesda. He did two tours in Iraq. He was wounded three times and this last one was the worst. His Humvee was hit by an IED, he suffered several shrapnel wounds to the head. He's been on medical leave for 4 months but according to the hospital records he's missed his last three weekly appointments." McGee explained, pulling up the files on the screen. Gibbs threw his arms out in exasperation.

"No one noticed?" he asked.

"Must have fell through the cracks." Claire imputed in disappointment.

"Family?" I inquired.

"Divorced, no kids." Claire informed with a sad frown.

"The doctor said he stayed with friends or sometimes on the street." McGee added.

"What kind of doctor?" Ziva inquired.

"Psychiatrist."

"Treated for?"

"Depression" McGee answered with a frown. Well that wasn't good for our case.

"Some way to treat a war hero." I sighed heavily.

"Well Marines look after their own." Claire added. At this Gibbs sat up thoughtfully.

"How does a homeless man get past the security agents, hotel staff, local cops, into a locked down building?" Ziva mused.

"Maybe he was already there." Gibbs suggested thoughtfully.

"Claire look up the hotel staff, search for any former Marines." Claire nodded and began typing frantically into the computer.

"Maintenance supervisor, Lois Romero." She relayed.

"McGee you're with me." Gibbs nodded and made his way to the elevator, leaving the three of us alone. Once he had left, we went right back into the uncomfortable silence. No one acknowledged it and just kept our heads down and waited for something to come up.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Thankfully McGee gave us a call, explaining that there was a murder on the same hall as Sergeant Wrights room. As awful as it sounds, I was glad there was something to distract from the uncomfortable tension surrounding Tony and I. Currently, Gibbs on the phone with director, talking about these two cases seem to be related. McGee was on camera duty while Ziva and I evaluated the body and the room.

"There's something on her cheek." Ziva commented. Taking out a swab she gently wiped away the substance off the girl's face.

"Looks like saliva. A kiss and kill." She pointed out, placing the swab back into the container to be evaluated later by Abby.

"Well there's no bag. Most likely the killer took it." McGee added from the other side of the bed.

"Maybe she just didn't have a bag." Ziva countered.

"Every woman has a bag." McGee shot back as if it was obvious. Ziva jerked her head back in surprise. At this comment I slowly turned around, watching from the closet in amusement.

"I feel like that's a pretty generalist statement, Tim." I mused, leaning on the doorframe. McGee glanced up at me.

"Do you have a bag?" he asked with a small grin. I paused, frowning.

"Yes…..but that doesn't mean anything." I countered defensively. McGee grinned, shaking his head as he went back to his work.

"Do I have a bag, McGee?" Ziva pointed out smugly.

"No, but you're not a w…." he froze midsentence, realizing what he was about to say. I watched as McGee slowly looked up in embarrassment, meeting Ziva's calculating gaze. She stared at him, warning him to tread carefully.

"I mean of course you're a woman, your just not…." Ziva tilted her head, eyes widening in mock curiosity as McGee continued to dig a hole.

"…not a normal…." He tried to explain. At this Ziva huffed and glanced away in annoyance. McGee looked back down at the floor.

"You're right not every woman has a bag." He quickly consented. Ziva's jaw twitched in annoyance but she didn't comment. Gibbs made his way over to stand next to her, looking down at the young girl on the bed.

"How old?" he asked quietly.

"No ID, no pocketbook, and no bag either." Ziva relayed, making sure to emphasize the word 'bag' with a look at McGee while glanced away. Tony entered the room. I glanced over at his entrance and we locked eyes, but I quickly glanced away. Just couldn't deal with it quite yet. He cleared his throat lightly.

"The room was booked to Michael Lowe, sales agent. Single occupancy. The room was paid for in cash." Tony informed, already knowing that this information was most likely false.

"Sounds fake." McGee hummed, taking more photographs of the scene.

"They're going to review the security tapes to send us what they got." Tony added. I blew out a breath tiredly, my eyes catching something hidden by the dresser. Leaning down I picked up a hotel key card.

"Boss." I held up the key up for Gibbs, who then took it over to the entrance of the room.

"Mr. Romero?" he asked, getting the maintenance manager's attention. Gibbs held up the card for him to see. Lois frowned at it.

"It's the keycard I gave Sergeant Wright. It's a master key, it opens up every room in the hotel." He explained. Well that is not what we wanted to hear if we were trying to prove Wright's innocence.

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

The next day Tony remained quiet as he pressed his fingers against his forehead, face scrunched up in mild pain.

"Are you ok?" Ziva asked, jolting him out of his headache fueled daze. He grimaced and blinked heavily, catching the full attention of Claire from across the room. She watched silently, taking notice that he really didn't look all that great. He looked exhausted.

"Never better." Tony grumbled unconvincingly.

"You look run over." Ziva told him with concern.

"The term is run down….I do?" he asked in surprise. Tony reached over to pop the CD out of the player on his desk and flipped it around so he could see his reflection. He frowned in displeasure at what he saw.

"Maybe you need servicing." Ziva smirked as she watched him. Tony lowered the CD with a deadpan stare.

"Clearly we're still having some problems with the idiosyncrasies of the English language." He drawled tiredly.

"The finely tuned engine I think you called it." Ziva recalled. Tony sighed, nodding in agreement. Claire stared at him thoughtfully. Just because they were currently at odds with one another doesn't mean she didn't care about his wellbeing.

"You should see a doctor." She suggested quietly. Tony glanced over at her, hopeful from her first friendly remark in days. He smiled slightly in her direction before going back to staring down at his reflection once more with a grimace. Suddenly his cell phone rang, and Tony scrambled to fish it out of his pocket. He flipped it open and frowned, realizing that was not what was ringing. Placing it down he spun around and started digging through his bag, pulling out another cell. Claire and Ziva watched him with wide eyes. Tony had a second cellphone?

"Hello?" he asked quietly.

"Hi….yea….no its not a bad time." Tony chatted with the other line, grinning and chuckling as he did so. Claire watched from across the room, her face scrunched up in hurt and confusion. His demeanor was tensed but at the same time he was gushing over the phone pleasantly as if it was a friend. Why would he have a second cellphone? And who was he so friendly with on the other line?

"…this afternoon will be great….well I will see you then…ok bye.." he quickly hung up, tucking the phone away once more before turning back to his work. Ziva quickly jerked back to act as if she was not staring while Claire didn't move. She remained watching him intently from across the room. The sickening feeling just increased as he acted as if nothing happened.

"Two cellphones huh?" Claire pointed out, her tongue digging into her cheek to keep her emotions at bay. Tony blanched minutely before grinning to cover it up.

"Uh…one for each ear." He joked. Claire stared at him blankly.

"Um it's just a spare. This one has actually been on the fritz." He explained evasively, shaking his regular cell.

"This is another word you probably don't know the meaning of." Tony redirected towards Ziva in an effort to distract from the situation.

"Acts up?" she answered, looking up at him. Tony nodded in approval.

"I'm impressed." He mused. The three of them sat in silence, Tony actively trying not to look over at Claire who was burning a hole in the side of his head. He dramatically stretched before slinging on his coat as he stood.

"Alright, I'm heading out. Going to see a doctor…about being run over….down." he muttered, strapping on his gun and making his way to the elevator.

"Don't forget fritz." Ziva pointed out, nodding to the phone left on his desk. Tony stared at her in confusion before quickly realizing his mistake. He snatched up the phone and cheered childishly as he tossed it to himself. Tony quickly made his exit. Claire sat there for a moment, her fist clenching on top of the desk before she broke and took off after him. She bounded towards the elevator and when Tony spotted her his eyes widened and he quickly went to press the 'close door' button. She growled and stuck her hand in between the doors just before they closed. A smug grin slid across her face as Tony sighed and slouched against the back wall. The lift started back up and they stood in silence once more.

"So….two phones?" she lamely started, staring up at the ceiling.

"Yup.." the cab was filled with silence once more. Claire ground her teeth, tapping her fingers anxiously against her thigh. With a huff she reached over and turned off the elevator. Tony stared at her in surprise.

"What was that for?" he inquired curiously. Claire spun around and held her arms across her chest tightly.

"What has got you so exhausted? And do you really need a second phone?" she blurted anxiously. The man across from her groaned and ran a hand down his face.

"This again? Look it's not anything you need to be concerned about." He brushed off, reaching for the switch. Claire slapped his hand away; Tony yelping and holding his hand in pain.

"Nothing to be concerned about? So just because we no longer sleep together it means that I have no right to care about your wellbeing." She snapped. Tony pursed his lips, biting his tongue.

"You can care but I need you to care as a friend." He explained tightly. Claire jerked her head back indignantly.

"Ok…..then as a friend I care that you're up half the night, getting second cellphones, and eating your way to a heart attack." She shot back pointedly.

"No, as my friend I need you to just be there for me and not nitpick about what I'm doing with my life. If you can't do that then I don't think we can make even this friendship work." Tony barked, staring at her sternly. Claire swallowed and fell back into silence. He had never truly yelled at her before.

"Just. Leave. It. Alone." He added lowly. Tony watched as her face scrunched up and jaw tightened as she struggled internally with what he was asking of her. But he knew that she needed to back off before she got herself into trouble and he couldn't protect her. He needed her in his life but in order to keep her they had to establish boundaries. Claire pressed her fingers into her eyes roughly. After blowing out some air she turned and started the elevator back up.

"Fine….but I don't have to like it." She muttered. Tony chuckled. He wouldn't expect her to.

"I know, I'm not asking that of you." he quietly assured. Claire turned to glare at him.

"I'm still mad at you, so don't expect me to be so warm and fuzzy about this." she warned. Tony nodded solemnly.

"I know." He whispered, leaning farther back against the wall of the elevator. They rode the rest of the way down in silence until Tony's floor came up.

"Tell Gibbs I'll be back soon." He told her as he exited, not looking back to see her face. It was nowhere close to how he wanted them to be….but at least it was a start.


	15. Chapter 15

Once A Hero: [pt 2]

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

"I love window shopping. How about you?" Jeanne Benoit hummed as she stood next to Tony at a small coffee stand. Tony glanced around and squeezed out a smile.

"Oh yea.." he sarcastically agreed. Jeanne grinned in amusement and smacked his arm, giving him a knowing look.

"Only when I'm with you." Tony admitted with a grin.

"Cold?" she asked, rubbing her hand up and down his arm. Tony tried to unclench himself as he only had on his overcoat and it was quite chilly out.

"It's invigorating." He insisted. She gave him a grin.

"Chilly."

"Freezing." He nodded with a chuckle.

"Oh poor Tony, I dragged you out here to go window shopping. Next time maybe you should choose." She hummed, leaning up to press a kiss right next to his lips. Tony made himself relax as he watched her lips come near his face. Internally he sighed when she didn't reach his lips. Quickly getting back into the proper mindset he put on one of his trademark grins.

"Hot tub." He quickly suggested.

"I know something else we can do to stay warm." Jeanne suggested, eyeing him heatedly. Tony paused.

"Really….I wonder what that could be." He purred. They were distracted as the man handed them their coffees.

"Coffee?" Tony inquired as they turned to continue down the street. Jeanne hummed in disagreement.

"No, dancing." She supplied. Tony nodded thoughtfully. Much better.

"Dancing. Dancing would make you warm." He agreed, putting his arm across her lower back.

"Then tonight we dance." Jeanne grinned. Tony winced, looking down at his watch.

"Tonight…" he muttered with a wince. Jeanne's grin dropped.

"Don't tell me you have to work." She sighed, looking up at him with disappointment.

"Tonight…dancing. Tomorrow, work." Tony clarified assuredly. He smiled when Jeanne's pleased expression returned. She placed her own arm around his back as they walked.

"You don't seem too happy about that." She pointed out teasingly.

"I'm worried." Tony admitted.

"Worried? About what?" she asked. Obviously his real answer…Gibbs…wasn't an option to tell her.

"Well we're going dancing tonight and I haven't got a thing to wear." He answered teasingly. Jeanne laughed.

"Has anyone ever told you, you're an idiot." she asked fondly, grinning up at him.

"Yea my boss and my best friend….all the time." He grinned goofily. Jeanne laughed once more, glancing back towards the street. She never noticed Tony's smile dip a little as he thought on that last statement.

...

Claire sighed tiredly as she blinked hard, her eyes burning at how long she had been staring at the computer. Sliding her chair away she glanced around the bullpen. Abby was out getting the hair sample micro analyzed by someone who actually had the machinery, McGee was down in her lab working on forensics, Tony was still MIA, and Gibbs was somewhere in the building. This left only her and Ziva in the workroom.

"I'm going to get some coffee from the break room. Want anything?" Claire asked, standing up and looking over at Ziva. The Israeli shook her head as she was still talking to someone over the phone. With that Claire set off in search of caffeine. Walking past some of the legal department storerooms, a hand shot out from a closet and yanked her inside. With a yelp Claire turned in the dark room and tried to rid herself of the hands frantically reaching all over her.

"Wh…"

"Shhh it's just me! I've been waiting for you forever, it's been too long." The voice nervously rushed out in what seemed like an intent to be seductive. Claire's eyes bugged out at the voice.

"Palmer?!" she asked incredulously. The hands froze. Suddenly the light turned on in the closet and Jimmy stared in mortification and fear as Claire stood in front of him, just as bewildered.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked, slapping his hands away from her butt where they had frozen. Jimmy turned beet red and started sputtering.

"I was trying to be romantic." Claire blinked, totally lost.

"What?"

"I..I..I mean I thought you were someone else."

"….what?" Claire stared at him in utter confusion as Palmer pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'm so sorry, please don't say anything about this!" he urged pleadingly.

"Why are you hiding in a closet….waiting for someone?" she asked him. Jimmy bit his lip, unable to come up with a decent lie.

"Are you hooking up with someone in the office?" Palmer scratched the back of his head and refused to look at her. She raised her hands up.

"You know what….I don't really want to know." Claire quickly dismissed and turned to walk out. Just before she opened the door she turned around to look at him sternly.

"Just so we're clear…..I don't know what the hell just happened here…..but let's never discuss it or have a repeat. Okay?" Jimmy nodded fervently.

"Of course! Thank you!"

"Please don't thank me. It was traumatizing enough Palmer." She grimaced, walking out of the closet and on towards the break room. That was so weird. Who could he have possibly been waiting for?

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Tony had finally returned from wherever he actually went to. As soon as he came into the office from his 'appointment' he promptly sat down in his chair and kicked back for a nap. When Ziva asked he claimed it was 'Doctor's orders'. Of course none of us bought that but we didn't say anything against it.

"How does a homeless guy, staying illegally in a hotel order room service?" McGee asked aloud as he looked over the crime scene photos on his computer.

"This wouldn't be a trick question would it, Probie?" Tony asked, his eyes still closed.

"No." McGee assured.

"He calls room service." I scoffed and rolled my eyes at Tony's answer. I raise my hand up to my ear like I was holding a phone.

"Yes, room service. This is the homeless guy staying illegally in room 607. Yes, that is the room shut down for maintenance. I'd like to order some breakfast." I dramatically conversed. Tony's eyes cracked open and he glared at me tiredly. With a grunt he straightened himself up and leaned on his desk more alert.

"Definitely a trick question." Tony muttered, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles.

"It's just a tricky answer." McGee corrected.

"Somebody brought it to him." Tony suggested with a heavy sigh. McGee pursed his lips.

"That's not very tricky. I'm going to talk to Ducky." He muttered, getting up and leaving. Tony muttered mockingly, screwing up his face as the man left.

"Geeze what's eating you today?" I asked, frowning at him. Tony looked over at me but didn't respond. He closed his eyes for just a second before Ziva stormed over and loudly plopped a set of VCRs onto his desk. Tony jumped and stared up at her in alarm.

"What is with everybody today?" he whispered, picking up one of the VCRs to read the label.

"Hallway Camera D….." Tony's eyes flicked around thoughtfully.

"The title needs work, who's in it?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Hopefully the Asian guy who booked the room." She answered. With an understanding nod, Tony turned to pop it into his small TV behind the desk. I stood up to join them in watching the tapes.

"It looks like the doctor kept you…."

"Busy waiting room." Tony quickly cut her off. I frowned as she eyed him suspiciously. Why did she care so much? Brushing it off as just her being nosy I sat on the corner of Tony's desk just behind him.

"There's a lot of sleeping sickness going around. Or lack of sleeping sickness." Tony elaborated as he set the film up. Ziva took a seat on the opposite corner of the desk.

"Ducky thinks our victim is a Chinese national. Probably in the country less than a few weeks." Gibbs announced as he suddenly appeared behind us.

"Well her fingerprints drew a negative on the immigration database. So she's here illegally." I pointed out.

"Probably smuggled in for the sex trade. Asian, cute, underage." Ziva chimed in.

"It's a gold mine. Pimp pays cash, sets her up in a room during a nice big convention. He feeds her clients." Tony added.

"And then one of them kills her." I finished with a frown.

"Sergeant Wright doesn't fit that profile." Gibbs retorted.

"Wright didn't need to pay to get into the room, he had a magic key." Ziva countered. We all turned to look at her. Ziva sighed, realizing we weren't on board with her idea.

"He saw an opportunity and he took it. Perhaps because of his mental state he lost control, and afterwards regret and then he took his own life." She clarified.

"It fits the facts, boss." Tony winced in reluctant agreement.

"Only the facts we know DiNozzo. Any word from Abby?" Gibbs asked, turning to me. I shook my head.

"Nothing." At least nothing relevant. She did rapid text me, I knew because of the typos, about how amazing the mass spec guy was. But nothing to do with the case so I didn't feel the need to divulge.

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

While Gibbs had gone down to talk with McGee in Abby's lab, Claire received a phone call from the woman herself. Gibbs had called a meeting back up in the bullpen to discuss the two new discoveries. The hair was not Sgt. Wright's and the 'Help Me' note came from another room. He didn't write it but instead received it.

"So the hair isn't Sergeant Wright's. But the saliva definitely was. DNA match. He was kissing the girl." Ziva commented as she perched on the edge of her desk. Tony walked over to join her, glancing over across Gibb's desk at Claire who had quickly taken a spot next to McGee.

"There's more than one reason to kiss a girl." Claire pointed out.

"There is?" Tony shot back in amusement. She stared at him blankly and turned her face away. However, Tony caught the quirk of her lips as she turned. Gibbs glanced between the two of them and picked up the phone to dial Ducky on speakerphone.

" **Autopsy"**

"I've got a question for you." Gibbs began.

 **"I can't guarantee I've got an answer."**

"The bruising on the girl's sternum….could it be from CPR?"

 **"Very likely…it's actually most probable when you weigh in all the evidence."** Ducky mused. Claire shot a pointed look at Tony who nodded approvingly.

"It would explain how Wright's saliva got on her corpse. I'll have to confirm that but yes, the could be your answer."

"This means Wright wasn't trying to kill her. He was trying to save her." Claire pointed out, pleased with the new theory.

"Let me know when you get a confirmation." Gibbs instructed Ducky before hanging up.

"So, we're looking for someone with an anthrax vaccine." Tony began the new discussion.

"Instead of one suspect we now have half a million, all of them military." Ziva pointed out dryly.

"Maintenance guy?" Tony suggested.

"Fixing a leak in the kitchen. Chefs were tripping over him all day." McGee countered.

"That scratches Romero." Claire muttered thoughtfully.

"After 9/11 anthrax was sent through the mail. Most people at risk were vaccinated. Pentagon officials, senators, congressman..." Ziva thought aloud.

"So everybody at the reception." Tony frowned.

"And people who open their mail." Gibbs added with a grin.

"Like an aide…" Claire breathed in realization.

...

Later that day NCIS had taken Mr. Nelson, the congressman's aide that they had talked with at the reception, into custody. Claire sat across the table from him while Gibbs prowled around the room.

"Yes, I had an anthrax vaccination along with everyone else at the Hill. They were troubling times." Mr. Nelson answered easily.

"They still are." Gibbs shot back.

"After you delivered the briefing papers to Nordforce Systems, what did you do?" Claire asked, fiddling with her pen.

"I delivered the papers and then I walked down the hallway, towards the elevators. That's where Wright attacked me." Nelson pointed to his still busted up face for emphasis.

"Nordforce Systems suite was right next to the elevator." she deadpanned. Mr. Nelson's face dropped.

"You want to try this story again?" she suggested teasingly.

"Do I need a lawyer?" he asked skeptically.

"Only if you're feeling guilty." Gibbs answered. Nelson shifted in his chair.

"You were walking towards the elevator, not because you were coming from Nordforce Systems, but because you were coming from a room further down the hall." Claire told him sternly.

"No."

"Actually, yes! You were coming from a room where an underage girl was killed." She shot back instantly, her voice raising.

"And you think I'm responsible?" Mr. Nelson sputtered incredulously.

"If you're not, then you won't mind giving us a hair sample." Gibbs explained, leaning on the table next to him. Mr. Nelson scrunched up his face in confusion.

"The killer left a calling card and we think your name is all over it." Claire hummed, watching his reactions.

"This is outrageous! I was attacked by a violent, unstable man." He shouted, again gesturing to his face.

"If you're looking for a murderer, you should be looking at him and not me." Nelson insisted. Claire grinned.

"So….you're refusing to voluntarily give us a hair sample. If you are, we can just get a court order." She told him with a sinister grin.

"I didn't kill anyone." He growled at her before leaning back in his chair. At that moment the door of the room flew open, Tony standing in the entrance way.

"Boss…" he asked, giving the two of them a look. Something had come up. Claire and Gibbs followed Tony to the big screen downstairs where Tony had pulled up the surveillance videos.

"8:17, they're all reacting to the same thing." Tony paused it on the timepoint mentioned.

"Wright's body stopping in for breakfast." Claire answered sarcastically.

"Andy Nelson may have killed the girl, but he didn't kill Sergeant Wright." Tony continued, zooming in on one of the men by the entrance doors. The man himself stood in shock, watching with everyone else at the body fell to the table below. Claire pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Okay….so new plan. Andy killed the girl so he may have seen who killed Wright without knowing it. Or maybe he does know, that's quite a scandal to be discovered." Gibbs nodded along silently with her and followed as she led the way back to interrogation. This time Gibbs was the one to enter while Tony and Claire waited in observation.

"I want to make a phone call." Andy requested, narrowing his eyes at Gibbs.

"Lawyer?"

"Someone much more powerful." Mr. Nelson countered threateningly.

"Your boss? Underage, illegal, dead. You really think your boss wants to talk to you?" Gibbs asked, walking around him before sitting down in the empty chair.

"Did you kill her before or after you pushed sergeant Wright?" Gibbs asked quietly.

"I didn't kill her. I didn't push sergeant Wright. I was on the ground floor when he jumped." Nelson insisted.

"He went to the room, he tried to save her. You attacked him."

"No."

"You raped her….you killed her. You threw sergeant wright out the window…." Gibbs continued talking, watching as the man began shaking and flexing in anger.

"I never saw Sergeant Wright!" Nelson shouted. Claire grinned from behind the glass. Bingo.

"Then how did he attack you?" Gibbs asked quietly. Andy Nelson began tearing up but tried to push it back as he realized he had been found out.

"She hit me with the lamp. I was just trying to stop her. I had to explain this somehow so I said…that Wright attacked me." He answered quietly.

"Who took you up to her room?"

"No one. I um….I met him outside the hotel and I paid him. He gave me the keycard to the room."

"A regular client or new girls every time?" Gibbs asked.

"Different girls. I ran into him upstairs at the elevator. I told him she was dead. He went up." Mr. Nelson admitted.

"Name…." he remained silent.

"Name!" Gibbs shouted aggressively. This time he got an answer.

...

Claire's POV:

Once we got the name and arrested the bastard upstairs McGee pulled up everything he could find on the pimp.

"David Chen, importing company." McGee pulled the photo.

"Kept himself clean, no misdemeanors, no felonies. Nothing to indicate that he was part of a sex trade involving underage girls." Ziva summarized the business history she was reading.

"Have we got enough to arrest him for murder?" McGee asked.

"No physical evidence. It's his word against Neslon's." Ziva dismissed.

"Then let's go kick his door down and find some evidence." Tony suggested.

"We do that Tony and we lose those girls." Gibbs countered gently.

"We might have lost them already. Slave traders move their girls all the time. They can be on their way to Vegas now or dead." Ziva pointed out.

"What about sending someone in undercover?" I suggested.

"I'll do it." Ziva quickly volunteered. Gibbs glanced at both her and I thoughtfully. He shook his head.

"No, we need someone closer to home." He told us.

"DiNozzo. Get me $25,000."

"Check or plastic?" he asked.

"Cash." Tony nodded.

"On it." He agreed before taking off across the room.

"Claire. Find Lee." I nodded before taking off to the last place I knew she had gone today.

...

"Jimmy! Ducky!" I called, stepping into autopsy. I paused, seeing that it was completely empty, which was weird for this time of day.

"Hello?" I called again. I walked over towards Ducky's desk when the door to the backrooms opened up and Palmer nearly had a heart attack at the sight of me.

"Claire! What…what are you doing here?" he asked nervously. Not that I could blame him as our last meeting was super weird.

"I was wondering if you knew were Agent Lee was?"

"Wh…why I would I know where she was? I haven't gone anywhere with her." he asked in confusion.

"You were the last one to see her?..." I pointed out.

"Right….well I signed Sergeant Wright's medical records the brought and then she left." Palmer explained, walking to the other side of the room.

"Well that was a while ago, did she say where she was going?" I asked, following him over.

"No, I've been in there all day." He gestured to the doors he had just come from. I frowned.

"The bathroom?" I asked skeptically. Jimmy paused and stared at me as if surprised I knew where that door led.

"Yes….I have a gastro-intestinal challenge." He winced, holding his stomach.

"Sorry about that. Wouldn't Ducky have something laying around to help with that?" I suggested.

"I drank it all." My eyes widened in alarm.

"Why would you do that?!" Palmer shrugged uncomfortably and walked over to wash his hands. I stood next to him by the sink.

"I didn't think it would hurt anything and I didn't want to be in there all day." He explained.

"TMI Jimmy." I grimaced.

"So what do you need Lee for anyway?" he asked, still scrubbing his hands.

"We have a sex trafficking case we need her help with." I briefly explained.

"OH THAT IS SO AWFUL!" Palmer shouted dramatically.

"Why are you yelling?" I asked, eyeing him warily. He was being so weird and twitchy.

"It…its just awful..." he weakly explained. I blinked and stared at him intently.

"Did those doors just open when you yelled?" I gestured to the automatic doors just behind me. Palmer blinked and swallowed.

"I don't think so." He whispered. I bit the inside of my lip, debating how I was going to go about this.

"Do I want to know?"

"Not really."

"Okay…..I'll just pretend today never happened as a whole. It keeps getting weirder. No offense Jimmy but I hope I don't see you for a while." I insincerely apologized as I backed up towards the doors.

"Understood." He nodded before quickly scurrying off to do something else.

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

"It's just she's never been undercover boss." Tony explained as he followed Gibbs out of the elevator.

"She's a highly trained NCIS special agent." Gibbs countered. Tony's face screwed up.

"She's more probie than even Probie." He retorted incredulously.

"She's got excellent backup." Gibbs pointed out. Tony frowned.

"Me?"

"Ziva." Tony huffed at the dig and hung back while Gibbs approached agent Lee who was now dressed for the part. Director Shepherd joined the group.

"You are causing quite a stir on the Hill. Underage dead girls and congressional aides make people nervous." She mused, looking at Gibbs.

"Good." He muttered.

"Well she looks the part. Just like a…" McGee trailed off thoughtfully.

"Whore?" Ziva asked seriously. Everyone turned to look at her.

"…a Cortesan." McGee corrected. Ziva nodded.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Claire asked worriedly. Lee nodded.

"I saw the girl in autopsy….yea, I'm ready." She hesitantly assured, steeling herself. Claire grinned.

"Okay, McGee." McGee nodded and turned to explain everything for Lee.

"So there's a radio transmitter and GPS built into the lining of the briefcase. The pressure hook on the handle is connected to the lining. Lift the handle to turn it off if they sweep for bugs and just turn it back on when they're finished." McGee demonstrated.

"Chen's going to be suspicious of everyone. Particularly if someone like Agent Lee shows up. We need something else McGee." Director Shepherd chimed in. McGee just grinned.

"I've got just the thing." He pulled out an ornate headband for Lee to wear that contained a backup camera. With a last-minute check, the agents filed out towards the elevator to set up the sting.

...

In the back streets where Chen set up his operations agent Lee was standing by the warehouse doors. Gibbs and Ziva were in the car nearby while Tony and Claire were spread out all around the building.

 **"DiNozzo."**

 **"In position boss."** Gibbs remained on the phone as Chen passed by them with a large man in tow. As he had a conversation on his cell in Mandarin, he paid no attention to the agents nearby.

 **"Target has entered the building"** Gibbs relayed. With a nod Ziva signaled Lee to approach the doors he had just gone through.

 **"GPS is locked on."**

 **"MTAC is standing by Agent Gibbs."** McGee and the director came in over the lines. Everyone waited and listened as Lee confronted Mr. Chen and told him she was looking for her sister. Lee had switched off the bugs and everyone waited.

 **"Tony, Claire if there's no contact after 30 seconds we're going in."** The duo confirmed the order as everyone waited in silence for her to turn contact back on.

 **"15 seconds…..20 seconds…..25 seconds…."** Just in time for the cutoff Lee turned the communications back on and they listened as she began bargaining for her sister. Using all of the information Ducky was able to get from the body Lee could accurately describe where the girl was taken from, giving her story more power. Claire grinned proudly as Lee held her ground and verbally gave the man a run for his money. Everything was going smoothly…..up until everything went fuzzy on the feed as Chen led her into another room.

 **"Talk to me McGee."**

 **"Working on it boss."** Everyone sat in silence as they waited for something to happen. Finally MTAC got something.

 **"She turned on her backup camera. They're in a screened room, there's interference."** McGee relayed to the rest of the team.

 **"DiNozzo, Claire cover the exits we're going in."** instantly everyone jumped into action, heading into their designated entrances. Ziva and Gibbs went inside and cleared the area, not finding any sign.

 **"DiNozzo, Claire anything?"**

 **"Nothing boss, they didn't come out this way."**

 **"Nothing here."** Gibbs and Ziva continued their search as the feed showed glances of them going underground through a tunnel. Grabbing sight of a building sign they locked in on the address.

 **"25 73** **rd** **street North West"** Director Shepherd gave them the location just as Ziva and Gibbs found the trapdoor.

 **"Tony, Claire go get the other end of that tunnel"**

 **"Meet you in two minutes boss."**

 **"One and a half."** Claire contested. As they ran, she caught sight of Tony through small openings across the buildings and they headed off towards the address. Spotting a truck next to a loading dock they met up and Tony took the lead. Just as Lee was being manhandled towards the truck he stepped out of hiding.

"Federal Agents!" he shouted, holding his gun up towards the man holding her. Chen swiftly drew his own gun and aimed it at Tony.

"I don't think so." Claire countered, coming up on his side. Chen glanced around and Gibbs and Ziva joined in from behind. Everyone held their positions as Lee took out the large man holding her and took him to the ground. Tony walked over to help and kept him down with his foot. Lee grabbed her own gun and held it up at Chen who was now completely surrounded.

"Put the weapon down." Gibbs instructed. Chen reluctantly held his hands up and set the gun down. Ziva rushed over to cuff him.

"Nice work Probie." Tony complimented, shooting Lee a grin.

"Where are the girls?" Claire asked.

"They're in the truck." Lee told her. The two of them holstered their guns and went over to unlock the back. Inside they found dozens of terrified girls who whimpered at the sight of all the people with guns. Chen muttered something scathingly in Mandarin.

"The bum tried to be a hero." Lee translated.

"Brian Wright. Sergeant Brian Wright. Bronze star, Purple heart. United States Marine Corp. He was a hero." Gibbs listed off, glaring at the man. Turning away he joined Claire who was already in the truck, helping the girls out with soothing words.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Once everyone had been taken care of with the trafficking ring we all headed back to finish out some paperwork for the case.

"Good work tonight. Don't stay here too late, you've earned it." Gibbs commented as he slung on his jacket to head out. He was rarely one of the first to leave so him already heading out meant that we could put off some things for tomorrow morning. We all nodded as he headed towards elevator. Out of the corner of my eye I watched Tony wait in his seat until Gibbs had disappeared. Once the doors closed on the elevator, he checked his watch and jumped up grabbing his things.

"Well it's been a long day. I will take the boss's advice and head out." he quickly dismissed himself and headed out. I watched silently, already knowing he was off doing something for the director. I didn't comment and just watched as he left, never looking back. Whatever he was getting into, it had drastically picked up since he broke it off the other day. If it was taking its toll on his life now I could only imagine how it would be later down the road. I had to get to the bottom of this. It would just take some time.


	16. Chapter 16

Smoked [pt 1]:

 **...**

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

Tony Dinozzo arrived at NCIS reading McGee's newly discovered novel, Deep Six. He snickered as he walked over towards his desk, passing Ziva who was reading her own copy. Claire glanced up as she sat across the bullpen at her own desk, a copy of the novel in hand. Ever since it was revealed that McGee was crime fiction novelist Thom E. Gemcity, they quickly took up reading his book. Unfortunately, the reveal also led to the realization that he had based his characters off of them in a not so subtle manner.

"Finish McGee's book yet?" Tony asked, setting his bag and coat down behind his desk. The girls looked up from their books.

"I didn't get started as early as I wanted so I'm not I'm too far into it." Claire admitted.

"Half-way. You?" Ziva asked, glancing up at him.

"I'm on…..chapter seven, page 103." He told her, waltzing over to stand in front of her desk as she frowned at him curiously.

"Maybe someday Lisa would find the courage to tell agent Tommy about her dream of the two of them together. Their bodies covered in sweat as they made love on crystal white sands of her homeland…" Tony dramatically read off the page. Ziva snapped her book shut.

"I'm gonna kill him." she growled. Claire groaned in amused disgust at the idea while Tony beamed with delight.

"Oh don't be too hard on him. I think it's kinda funny that he reached that conclusion." She smirked. Ziva shot her a glare.

"Really? Well I don't think you would be so amused to learn that McGee thinks you have frustrating sex." Ziva quipped. Claire's grin dropped, while Tony guffawed at her reaction.

"The term is sexually frustrated and what the hell are you talking about?" she asked, furiously scanning through the pages.

"Allow me." Tony suggested and quickly turned to a passage that was clearly earmarked. As if he knew this topic would come up.

"Blair watched the sexual tension mount between her fellow coworkers Tommy and Lisa, her eyes holding a longing for her own relationship. Her background with high profile jobs kept her busier than most, leaving no time to find a lover. She often accompanied Tommy in his childish shenanigans and spent many hours in the building's training gym to release her sexual frustration ..…" Tony read with an amused smirk. He shot a look her direction, biting his lip as her face turned red at a rapid pace. McGee had written the book back when they were dating. It was mortifying to think that he had assumed she was sexually frustrated the whole time. And apparently pining after a fake relationship.

"Forget going easy on him. Ziva, I'll gladly help you kill him." she growled, slamming her book onto the desk.

"Kill who?" Gibbs asked as he strode past the agents.

"McGee, have you read his book?" Ziva asked, holding up her copy.

"Apparently McGee thinks Ziva is in love with me and that Claire needs to get laid." Tony gloated, however his grin faltered as Claire shot him a pointed stare. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. A bit too soon for that joke. Ziva scoffed at the absurdity of the whole situation. For a profiler McGee sure mixed up his messages when it came to the females in his life. Not that Claire was ever going to correct his facts, especially now that the relationship was over.

"There's a reason they call it fiction DiNozzo." Gibbs pointed out absently as he rummaged through his desk drawers.

"Boss, just got a call from dispatch. The construction crew just found a dead body." McGee announced as he made his way over to join them. Behind his back Ziva, Tony, and Claire glared with his book in hand.

"Where?" Gibbs asked, already reaching for his gun.

"Chesapeake High School in Quantico."

"Student?" Gibbs asked, grabbing the keys. McGee frowned down at his notebook.

"Uhhh I'm not sure." Gibbs tossed the keys to Tony who was smirking at McGee viciously.

"Take the truck, I'll meet you there." Gibbs informed as he walked out of the room, leaving McGee at the mercy of his coworkers. McGee went to his desk and started packing up his gear when he looked up. He paused his movements as his eyes swept across the bullpen, spotting three copies of his book paired with daggered stares.

"How many times do I have to tell you, it's not about you guys." McGee sighed in exasperation.

"Oh, no of course not." Claire drawled sarcastically. She looked over at Tony.

"Let Ziva drive." She instructed, shooting McGee a smirk. Tony eagerly handed the keys to Ziva. McGee stared at their backs in alarm as he trailed behind them to the elevator. After a silent ride down to the garage Ziva, Tony, and Claire quickly occupied the seats up front…those with seat-belts. This left McGee to climb into the back. Claire ended up in the middle and flinched when Tony's thigh slid up against hers. Tony clenched his jaw at her reaction but couldn't say anything.

"Comfortable back there, Gore Vidal?" Tony asked, pursing his lips in irritation. McGee scrambled to the small window behind Claire's head, causing her duck away from his face.

"For the last time Deep Six is fiction." He told them earnestly.

"Fiction about us, yes?" Ziva questioned as she started up the van.

"No! Look if you don't believe me, read the disclaimer in the front of the book." McGee insisted.

"Are you buying that….Lisa?" Tony asked, looking across the van. Ziva chuckled deeply.

"Didn't think so." Tony hummed reaching back to securely buckle himself in.

"Nice knowing ya McGee." Claire chirped, knowing how rough it was back there with the crazy Israeli driving. And she was much madder at McGee than her at the time.

"Ziva…" McGee pleaded worriedly. Without a glance back Ziva threw the van into gear and slammed her foot on the gas pedal. Everyone in the vehicle grunted as they were thrown back, however McGee lost his footing and went sailing towards the back of the van.

"It's just a book!" he cried desperately.

...

At the crime scene there was a charred body on the floor covered in soot as the man had dropped out of the chimney. Ziva flashed a camera in Tony's face causing him to blink the dots from his vision. Tony clenched his jaw and wiped some dust off his sketchpad.

"You know in chapter eight, McGee's 'book you' character does the same thing to agent Tommy. Turns out she has this whole secret photo album of him." he informed her pointedly.

"That's actually kinda creepy." Claire pointed out while Ziva shot him a glare.

"Fascinating Tony. But I wasn't taking a picture of you. I'm more interested in the wildlife." Ziva nodded her head towards the rat just above him. Tony turned and Ziva quickly took a picture of his disgusted reaction to the creature. She snickered at his reaction.

"It's just a rat, Tony. No need to freak out." Claire commented in amusement. Tony shot her a dirty look. Claire crouched down to examine the body on the floor when Gibbs entered the basement with the foreman alongside him.

"We have pulled rats, cats, and birds out of chimneys before Agent Gibbs. Hell, even one time a St. Bernard. But this is my first mummy." The foreman told Gibbs as they made their way towards the body.

"It reminds me of that urban legend."

"Which one is that?" Gibbs asked as he knelt next to the body.

"The one where the guy dresses like Santa, you know on Christmas Eve to surprise his girlfriend, but he never shows. She's convinced that the bastard dumped her. Badmouths him all over town…."

"Until they find the poor soul in the chimney a few months later. Still clutching the shiny new engagement ring in his hand. And the moral of the story is…." Ducky began as he climbed down the stairs.

"It's never a good idea to get married." Gibbs cut him off, not looking up. Ducky sent him a look from behind.

"..no its best not to judge someone until all the facts are in." Ducky clarified. He and Gibbs shared a silent glance.

"I like mine better." Gibbs quipped. The foreman chuckled.

"Did any of your men touch Kris Kringle here?" The man shook his head.

"Nah, most of them were halfway to Manassas before the dust even settled." He explained.

"There's no ID on him." Claire informed, standing up next to Gibbs.

"And based on what's left of the mullet I think it's safe to say he wasn't in the military." Tony added.

"You think, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked sarcastically. Tony pouted and watched Gibbs head towards their M.E., without looking up from his notepad.

"Hey, I need a TOD, Doctor." Gibbs asked, not looking at Ducky.

"Considering we have been working together for over ten years, I am well aware of that fact Agent Gibbs." Ducky snipped icily. Palmer and Claire shared an uncomfortable glance as they stood between their bosses.

"Conners when he gets one run it through missing persons over the same time period." Gibbs instructed. Claire frowned.

"Where are you going?" she inquired.

"To the roof, to figure out how he ended up there in the first place." Gibbs explained. On his way up the stairs he ran into McGee who was holding an icepack to his neck.

"What happened to you?" he asked. McGee frowned thoughtfully as they passed on another.

"Um, creative differences with my coworkers, boss." He tentatively elaborated. Claire snorted aloud, McGee shooting her a frown.

"A lot of that going around these days." Gibbs quipped as he exited the room. The agents shot the exit a worried glance. Gibbs and Ducky were still being frosty towards one another, which caused everyone else to be very uncomfortable.

"Don't you think it's about time you and Gibbs made up, Ducky?" Ziva suggested once Gibbs was out of earshot.

"Made up? I wasn't aware we were fighting Ziva." Ducky hummed as he examined the body.

"Come on. Ever since he retired…."

"Gibbs didn't retire, he quit." Ducky quickly corrected what Tony was about to say.

"Ok, so he quit. But he's back now, that should count for something." Claire pointed out gently.

"You need to cut the man some slacks, Ducky." Ziva added.

"I agree. Except the term is 'slack'." Tony pointed out with a shrug. She had gotten close enough.

"Judging by the decay and the condition of his skin….I tentatively place the time of death at 2-4 months ago." Ducky ignored them as he relayed the information to Claire who jotted it down.

"Works for me. Time of death was 2-4 months ago Gibbs!" Claire shouted up the chimney. She paused and shrugged at the lack of response.

"Bag and tag the ashes, Probie. We'll pick you up after we coordinate with the MPs." Tony instructed with a grin. Claire and Ziva shot McGee cool stares as they passed, following Tony up the stairs. McGee frowned, still holding the icepack on his neck.

"Palmer I need a favor." Tim quickly asked once his team had left. Jimmy stared at him blankly.

"You need a ride back with us." He guessed. McGee frowned.

"How did you know?" Palmer pursed his lips, staring at McGee unhappily.

"I read your book. And for your information I never had sexual relations with a corpse." He snipped in offense. McGee inwardly groaned.

"That character was not based on you." he quietly insisted.

"His name was Pimmy Jalmer, McGee" Palmer snapped. McGee paused.

"Well he's French Polynesian." He defended weakly. Palmer huffed and slid past the agent.

"Doctor I'm going to go get the gurney now." McGee turned to watch the man stalk up the stairs. Just another added to the list of teammates that hated him because of his book.

"It was only a dream…come on haven't you ever heard of symbolism?" McGee continued his attempts to placate Palmer, but it was useless. The sound of Ducky chuckling caught his attention.

"The life of an artist is never easy, McGee. They'll all get over it eventually." He assured. McGee sighed, crouching next to him.

"Thanks, Ducky."

"By the way do you know if Tony has finished it yet?" Ducky asked, looking at McGee curiously.

"Not yet." McGee answered, unsure what that had to do with anything. Dr. Mallard winced thoughtfully.

"Well him I'd watch out for." Ducky warned, putting McGee even more on edge.

...

 **Claire's POV:**

Back at NCIS I was sorting thought the photos of missing persons during the time frame Ducky had given.

"None of the photos from the local missing person reports match our John Doe's description." I sighed in frustration.

"And there's no record of anyone going missing on base. Civilian or military during that time period." I added with an agitated growl. Hearing no helpful response I looked up and glared at Tony who was still nose deep in McGee's book.

"Are you even listening to me?" I asked sharply.

"I'm getting close to the end." Tony dismissed, not looking up from the book.

"You know McGee is really starting to nail your essence here." He beamed in approval.

"That's not funny. Besides he keeps saying it's fiction so part of it has to be wrong." I huffed, unwilling to let it bother me. I didn't really have all those habits, did I?

"I don't think so….'Blair' silently watches the others with observant eyes, punching Tommy in the shoulder when she's irritated, she wears the leather jackets and heeled bootie shoes, spending hours in the gym to blow off tension…."

"I am not!..." I paused to suck in a breath, realizing that I had raised her voice. No need for everyone else in the office to hear me.

"I am not sexually frustrated. I can't believe he wrote that!" I snarled, clenching my fists together. Tony raised an amused brow and smirked at her from across the room. I wanted to smack it off.

"I know that…" he assured calmly, still grinning. I jerked my head up and pursed my lips at him with a cool glare. This was not the time.

"You really want to address this?" I warned. Tony blushed and looked down at the table in embarrassment. If he was so adamant about cutting our relationship off, then he needed to know where the boundary was. He can't just bring stuff like that up and expect me to act fine with it. It had only been a few weeks ago.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it all up again." He quietly admitted, realizing just how worked up I had gotten. I ran a hand through my hair roughly, trying to get my emotions back under control.

"I know, it's just…..I know." I told him roughly. Tony remained silent, obviously unsure how to proceed from there. I didn't really have any ideas on where to go either. I hated how awkward we could be now. This had never been a real problem before. After a minute of silence, he picked the book back up.

"You know he also is keying in on Ziva pretty well too." He began, glancing over to see if I was paying attention. I barely glanced over. At least he was trying. Taking that as a good sign he continued, reading directly from the book.

"…'stakeouts. Long endless hours fueled by cheap food….and even cheaper coffee. But tonight, Mossad officer Lisa didn't seem to mind because she was getting to spend it with Agent Tom….'" I grinned, biting my lip to keep the smile back as I sat up and watched him. Tony trailed off as he read the passage in a gravely narration voice, grinning my direction. Until he realized I was looking past him. His smile instantly dropped.

"She's behind me again, isn't she?" he muttered. Ziva leaned down towards his ear.

"Lucky guess." She commented before shoving his chair into the desk hard, pinning his torso against it. Tony groaned in pain as his gut was squished roughly, Ziva not letting up on the pressure.

"You know I think McGee's right." Ziva hummed next to his ear. Tony's face bloomed in surprise. I however stared at them incredulously. Was this really happening?

"He was, was he?" he asked curiously. His face then morphed into one of pain as it flared up again.

"It is taking almost all my willpower to resist these urges when I'm around you Tony." She told him. Tony bit his lower lip in silent thought. I watched a plethora of emotions flit across his face in seconds. But overall I could see that he was uncomfortable with how believable she was being.

"Maybe….it's time that I just give in, yes?" she continued. Tony's brow furrowed in confusion and slight alarm.

"And by give in you mean?..."

"Letting loose, doing what comes naturally to me." Tony chuckled.

"Ah yes. You know I thought I was picking up on those vibes the first time we me." He grinned charmingly.

"You were?" Ziva inquired. Tony hummed in confirmation, keeping up with the game. At least I was pretty positive it was a game. Either way I was getting weirded out just watching them.

"In fact I almost did it the night we talked at the hotel." Ziva told him thoughtfully.

"Really?"

"But my father wouldn't approve."

"Because I'm not Jewish." Tony assumed.

"Because he gets very angry when I KILL a coworker." She snarled, jerking her head towards him on the word kill. Tony jerked back and laughed all the emotions off in his usual way.

"Like I believed you for even a second." He shot back seriously. Ziva chuckled in amusement.

"You didn't?" she hummed, standing upright and smacking him lightly on the face. Tony's eyes bugged as he glanced around unsure as what just happened. I rolled my eyes and went back to work.

"You guys done playing grab ass?" Gibbs asked as he made his way into the bullpen. I couldn't have said it better myself.

"Oh, he started it." Ziva informed, returning to her spot.

"I'm ending it." Gibbs countered, leaning on Tony's desk.

"Oh…I…" Tony sputtered. Gibbs took the book off his desk.

"The next person who mentions this book will be deep sixed by me." Gibbs warned, tossing Tony's book in with the small pile behind his desk. Mine was included in the pile, confiscated an hour earlier.

"I can completely live with that boss." Tony quickly assured.

"My point exactly DiNozzo. Did you ID our victim yet?" Gibbs asked, taking a seat at his computer.

"We're running facial recognition against missing persons cases over the last six months."

"No hits yet, boss." Tony and I summarized for him. I shot Tony an impressed nod. I guess he was listening to me.

"Um I believe that's my fault. I'm afraid my initial time of death wasn't completely accurate." Ducky chimed in from the end of the room. He waved for us to follow him down to autopsy.

...

On the table downstairs the victim had been cleaned up but remained a reddish-brown color, still stuck in the position he was found in. Definitely different than most bodies that came through here.

"As you may see his body is almost perfectly preserved. Perfectly preserved for a rotted corpse that is." Ducky began as all four of us followed him in. Tony eyed the man with mild disgust.

"The guy looks like a piece of beef jerky, Duck." He commented.

"Gum tissue rots faster than the outer flesh, due to the high degree of bacteria inside the mouth." Ducky began his explanation, pulling back the man's lips.

"As you can see, his gums are almost intact." He pointed out. Gibbs and Ziva leaned down to get a closer look while Tony and I remained on the other side of the table. I could picture it just fine from here.

"Maybe he was just a good flosser." Tony suggested, earning deadpan stares from rest of us.

"I'm shutting up, boss." he amended knowingly. Tony turned and gave me a dramatic wince, earing a reluctant grin from me. I pretended like I didn't notice how he lit up at my reaction.

"How'd he die?" Gibbs asked, ignoring Tony.

"Well the how I'm still working on. It makes it very difficult because of the means by which his body was preserved. This man was literally smoked inside that chimney." Ducky explained. My brows rose in surprise.

"Smoked?" Ziva asked. Tony's head jerked around in surprise at the news.

"Yes, like a fine cut of meat." Ducky explained.

"So he really is like beef jerky." I pointed out. He sure looked the part.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. Its also the reason why my time of death was so far off." Ducky answered.

"More than 2-4 months, Ducky?" Ziva asked.

"It would seem so." The man chuckled.

"How much?" Gibbs asked.

"I would say we're looking at 5 or 6…" Gibbs shrugged with a grin.

"Ah don't be so rough on yourself doctor. We're already running the past 6 months." Gibbs explained as the team started to head out.

"Not months. Years." Ducky called, getting us to pause. That was significantly off from what we initially thought. I sighed, already knowing that I was going to have many more missing persons to sift through. Gibbs turned to me expectantly.

"On it." I nodded, already heading towards the elevator to head back to my computer.

...

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**

Shortly after the team had returned to the bullpen, Tony was called away by the Director. Conveniently at a time where Gibbs was not in the room. However, he had quickly noticed the man's absence over the span of an hour he had already been gone. He stood in front of the big screen, sifting through his own set of missing person photos to help speed up the work.

"How long has Tony been doing errands for the Director?" he asked. Claire paused her typing as she was the only other person in the office.

"Why would I know?" she inquired, her voice letting out a small bite. Gibbs turned to look at her knowingly. She would be the only person who would keep track of his activities to closely. Claire swallowed as she paused in mock thought. She didn't need to think about it but didn't want to come across to nosey.

"A week or so after you retired. Apparently, she trusts him."

"To do what?" he asked.

"You will have to ask Tony that. Lord knows he won't tell me." Gibbs eyed her curiously, paying close attention to her tone.

"You don't trust it." He surmised. Claire shrugged.

"I don't have anything to go on to have an unbiased opinion on it. But no…. I don't like how secretive it has been." She admitted reluctantly. Gibbs nodded thoughtfully. Before anything else could be said Abby came bounding into the bullpen.

"Gibbs, Gibbs! I did it." She cheered.

"Wh…you mean we." McGee corrected, disgruntled.

"There's no we in McGee." Abby dismissed. McGee frowned in confusion but let her continue.

"I traced the connection back to the system that deleted the fingerprint match." Abby explained excitedly.

"It's a server in Arlington Virginia."

"Routed through AFIS, directly at the source."

"Our mystery hacker is…

"..the FBI." Gibbs answered for the duo. Abby deflated.

"Yea…it sounds a little anticlimactic when you say it." She pointed out in disappointment.

"How did you know that?" McGee asked.

"I'm looking at them." Gibbs explained. Just as he gestured behind them, Fornell made his way into their circle with Sacks on his tail.

"Well isn't that just fantastic." Claire drawled, sending Sacks a dirty look. One which he easily returned.

"You've got something that belongs to me, Gibbs." Fornell grinned deviously.

...

After two hours, Tony finally made his way back to work waltzing in as if he was never gone. He slowed his gait and glared at his desk where familiar FBI agent sat in his chair. Sacks grinned as he chatted jovially with someone over the phone. His grin widened and he waved when he spotted Tony's sour expression. Tony skirted around his desk, glaring at the man. When Tony turned to look at his teammates they all shared strained grins, just as thrilled as he was that Sacks was in the room.

"What's wrong with this picture?" Tony asked, walking over to Claire. She shot him a look.

"Besides being late over two hours?" she quipped sharply. Tony bit the inside of his lip and ignored it.

"Why is the spawn of the FBI sitting at my desk?" he asked instead with a snarl. Lee made her way over towards Tony with a paper, cutting off the conversation.

"Warrant just came in via the FBI, I made sure NCIS was a co-signer." She told him. Tony frowned in confusion.

"A warrant for what Lee?" he asked, looking over the paper. Claire snatched it from his hands, scanning it herself since Tony had missed all the action.

"The serial killer's home." She explained shortly. Tony's brow furrowed.

"It covers the grounds and residence." Lee added.

"Serial killer?" he sputtered.

"Well you missed quite a bit when you were off on your errand." Claire told him coolly. Tony sighed tiredly, shooting her a pleading look. He really didn't want to keep getting into this conversation.

"I only missed like two hours." He defended. Right on que Gibbs swooped in and smacked Tony upside the head, causing the two girls to flinch.

"You snooze you lose DiNozzo. Grab your gear." Gibbs ordered with Fornell in tow. The man snatched the paper out of Claire's hands while everyone scrambled for their gear.

"I already have my gear." Tony weakly pointed out. He looked to Claire, his eyes pleading for her to help him out. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I'll fill you in on the way out." she caved, already behind their boss.

"Today DiNozzo!" Gibbs called as he spotted Tony lingering in the back. Tony jolted into action and chased after the team before the elevator closed.

...

In the car McGee grabbed the wheel while Ziva sat passenger, putting Tony and Claire in the back. The four rode in silence for a few minutes as they followed Gibbs and Fornell to the address.

"So….serial killer? Who is that?" Tony finally asked, looking over at Claire. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"The body downstairs. Killed 14 women and then ate their left toes." she summarized. Tony's face scrunched up in disgust.

"Someone has a foot fetish." He muttered distastefully. Claire nodded silently. Ziva and McGee chatted up front in an attempt to give them some privacy. They were well aware that something had happened between the two in the back, adding to the already present tension within their work group.

"How did we figure that out?" Tony continued.

"Abby and McGee did some computer program on jerky's face and matched it with missing persons. The prints matched the case that the FBI still had on the murders. This is the first time the FBI has had any clue on who it was." Tony nodded, and watched Claire absently as she stared out the window.

"And now we are going to his house?" Claire nodded.

"Yup, his wife and kids still live there. His profile suggests that there's a strong likelihood he kept some of the bodies as trophies." She answered. Tony nodded again and returned to silence, having nothing else to really say. At least not with prying ears up in the front seats.


End file.
